Not Again!
by overcheatedXdreamer
Summary: Lena is back for another adventure in Middle Earth, and this time she's brought her two best friends with her. Middle Earth will never be the same! Contains strong language.
1. Chapter 1

**So this is a continuation of "MY Life Is So Over." If you didn't read the other one, you'll still probably get this one. But I make it up as I go along so don't blame me if you're a first timer to any of my fanfic and there's something in here you don't understand. Anyway, full summary, Lena gets pulled back in for another adventure to Middle Earth, and this time I'm bringing her best friends in with her. Kelly and Lisa are based on real people, so randomness and craziness will ensue. BTW, just to let you know, people in middle earth do speak Westron and it is not the same as English, but since I can't find anything on Westron or Westron dictionaries and just for the sake of making everything easier to understand, everything will be spoken in English. And the Elvish that I get is Sindarin phrases and stuff and I try the best I can to piece them together, so if they're not right, don't get mad. The other story was kind of more serious than I wanted it to be, so this one is going to be more random humor.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR or anything else you might recognize in this story. Except Lena, Kelly, and Lisa. They're all mine. **

I got back from ballet class at about 10:00 at night. I plopped all of my stuff down in the middle of my floor with a groan. My calves and thighs burned, and I was not looking forward to strength training and voice lessons tomorrow. I looked at myself in the mirror and wrinkled my nose at my reflection. My hair was damp with sweat, and I was looking forward to a cold shower after three hours of dancing in the humid studio. If you don't know me by now, you either didn't read the other fanfic or you weren't paying very much attention. After taking my shower, I slipped into my pink Happy Bunny pajama bottoms and a white tank top. I went over to my vanity to get my hairbrush, but my eyes fell on something else instead. The Leaf of Lorien, something I treasured very much. I sighed, remembering my adventure in Middle Earth about 2 years ago. I still thought about it, and I still wondered from time to time how everything worked out, if they had even realized I was gone. So many things had changed since then. I was basically back to my old, social self. I was into drama, started vocal lessons, and joined the lacrosse team at school. I also started ballet and am currently on pointe. Go me! Anyways, instead of the friendless nerd I was before my adventure, I was completely different. I was almost never at home because I was at one of my many after school activities or hanging out with my friends, especially my best friends Kelly and Lisa. My whole life had taken a major turn, in my opinion for the better. But there were still days when I really missed the friends I had made in that other world. I was startled out of my reverie by my cell vibrating on my headboard. I looked at the text message.

**Hey sexi get ur ass out here!**

I squinted at the screen and looked out my window. Lisa's car was parked at the very end of the driveway and someone else was holding a match and waving it back and forth. I sighed and went out to the car.

"What do you guys want? Put out the match Kelly you're going to set something on fire again!"

"No I'm not! And that was an accident! I didn't know your dad's rosebushes were flammable!" I shook my head sadly as Kelly blew out the match and inhaled the smoke. Yeah. She thinks they smell good. Then she pulled out a matchbox and lit another one.

"So…you me and Kel are going to Vermont this weekend. I'm picking you up here Saturday six o clock Saturday morning. Night!" Lisa finished brightly. Kelly shrieked and started crying.

"My finger! It burns!"

"Drop the match, dumb ass…" Kelly threw the match to the ground and stuck her finger in her mouth.

"Lata, bitch!" Lisa yelled as she floored it all the way up my street and around the corner.

O.o

Saturday morning, I was huddled in my warmest sweats and carrying my duffel bag, suitcase, and backpack of essentials. I was also trying to balance my pillow and blanket on top of all that. Lisa's car pulled up 20 minutes late and I dumped all my stuff in grumbling about the cold. Lisa eyed all of my stuff.

"Um…what is all of that?" she asked, gesturing to my bags. I drew myself up indignantly.

"The duffel bag and suitcase are things I need and the backpack is holding…stuff," I said grinning wildly. Kelly imitated the same grin and grabbed the backpack, sifting through the 4 bottles of alcohol and massive amounts of candy and other assortments of junk food. Kelly studied it carefully.

"We'll add it to The Suitcase when we get to the lodge," she whispered and huddled with the bag, muttering things to it every once in a while.

"Kelly give me back my sugar!"

"Mine!"

"Damn it Kelly I will force feed you your liver if you don't give me back the candy!" I screamed threateningly.

"Shut up both of you! It's too early for this!" Lisa hissed. We both fell silent and Kelly went to "sleep" still holding the backpack.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I have to pee," Kelly informed us. Lisa glanced at the three empty Big Gulps sitting next to her.

"Yeah…you should really hold off on those…" Kelly ignored her and continued to sip on her drink happily. Lisa opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, some maniac drove up in the lane next to us, veering wildly towards our car. The maniac happened to be a very drunk twenty-something and his friends. He licked his lips and leered at Lisa.

"Hey ladies! What's going on?" he yelled. Lisa flicked him off and tried to merge into the next lane over, but the guy on our other side wouldn't let her in. We had to put up with the jerks for another 5 minutes before Lisa got completely pissed off.

"Fuck this!" She started merging into the next lane. The driver wouldn't let her in at first, but when he realized that she would most likely run him off the road in order to get into his lane, he let slowed down. Unfortunately, the guys merged into the lane we had been in before.

"Hey baby come on! Don't you try to get away!" he cried. His buddies all whopped and turned up their music even louder. Lisa's road rage was starting to come creeping in. her face was getting all red, the car was starting to go faster, and her knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel so hard. Finally she turned around and let out a string of swears and insults that even I can't put them all down.

"$&&(&)URNU&R&&((&(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kelly laughed so hard she choked on her Big Gulp and I just stared at Lisa

"Lisa! I mean, I knew you swear and all…but that…WAS FREAKING AWESOME!" Lisa smiled proudly, until there was a huge crash on our right side. The guys were trying to bump us off the highway. Lisa tried to speed up to get away, but it failed. The guy kept ramming into the side of our car until we went off the road and started barreling down a steep ravine. Kelly, Lisa, and I were screaming bloody murder. I was starting to get nauseous from the car bouncing on all of those rocks and branches and bushes. I closed my eyes and just kept screaming until finally there was a loud crash. I lurched forward ad was just as quickly slammed back into my seat. I heard a crack and then sharp pain in my neck when I was slammed back against the seat. Black spots danced across my vision and I honestly thought I was going to pass out, but after sitting still for a few moments, I made myself calm enough to try to think through the situation. Obviously I wasn't very badly hurt. I had plenty of bruises and scratches from windshield glass, and when I lifted my shirt a little, painfully, I saw a dark band going across my stomach from the seatbelt. I looked around. From what I could tell we were in a forest, a really dark, creepy forest. Damn it. I thought after Lorien I'd never have to be near the woods ever again. I heard a groan from up front.

"What the fuck?" Kelly moaned. I took a look at her. Her shirt was completely soaked in cherry coke and her eyes looked out of focus.

"Um Kel? Did you hit your head on anything on the way down?"

"Egh…might've gotten tapped by my window a bit, but that happens to me normally so…" I rolled my eyes and looked at Lisa. She looked back. She had cuts all over her face and body. Kelly and I got out the car and went to her side. The front of the car was completely demolished. It took us a while to try to pull open the door, but we finally managed it. We dragged Lisa out and laid her on the ground. I grimaced. It looked bad, but I didn't think much damage was done. Her right leg was at a weird angle, though, so it was probably broken. She was scratched up and the entire left side of her face was swollen and bruised this greenish black color. Kelly looked at me, her eyes filling with tears.

"What do we do?" she whispered. I grabbed her and shook her.

"Kelly listen to me. Don't cry. You need to stay here and look after Lisa. I won't go very far. I'm going to climb back up the ravine and try to attract someone's attention from the highway. You can't let her see you this upset when she comes around, okay?" Kelly sniffled and nodded, and I headed in the opposite direction. I got behind the car and just started walking straight, but after 5 minutes, I still couldn't find it. That's when I heard the noises. Groaning, creaking. There were whispers all around me. I could faintly hear Kelly screaming for me. But it was getting darker. Was that tree there before? They all seem so much closer. Something near me let out a heavy sigh and I shrieked. What was this place?! It couldn't be my imagination, the trees were closing in on me. I turned around and started running. I could hear Kelly's screams, and soon I heard Lisa join her. Damn it I couldn't find my way back. But I must have been getting closer. I could hear Kelly and Lisa more clearly.

"Kelly! Lisa! You guys I'm coming!" I screamed. And then I stopped short. There was a flash of bright white light. The air became cooler and I realized that somehow this being bathed in light was making the trees shift away. So I did what any normal teenage girl would do.

I ran around screaming and didn't pay attention to where I was going. So I just ended up where I had started. But then I realized, I knew this man! This strong, tall elderly man with long white hair and beard, and silvery white robes. His staff was ivory with a clear crystal at the top. The design was Elvish.

"What the hell am I doing back here?!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to my…well one reviewer. But despite that it's only one review, I thank pranksta-4-lyfe and hopefully I'll get more reviews soon?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own lotr!!!**

Gandalf looked at me in surprise.

"I beg your pardon?" I stared open mouthed at him. He looked kind of younger. Well, not younger, rejuvenated, like he came back from a very long vacation. I grinned.

"Gandalf, is this a joke?" I asked. Gandalf stared at me in confusion. And then slowly a look of understanding crossed his face.

"Yes, Gandalf the Gray. That was my name. I am now Saruman the White," he explained. Now it was my turn to be confused. If he didn't even remember his old name, then he couldn't have pulled me back here. Which means that I somehow got through the portal again. Why do things like this always have to happen to me?! Gandalf smiled gently and took my hand.

"I remember you, though, my dear girl. You do look quite grown up, Lena. Although, if time does not escape me, it has been no more than a day that you disappeared from the now broken fellowship," he told me. I grimaced as a another shriek came from the car.

"Gandalf…er Saruman. Okay that's just odd. I'll still call you Gandalf, if you don't mind. But I have to get back to my friends. I think they need me," I explained. Gandalf nodded and put a friendly arm around my shoulder. Then the crystal started to glow, faintly at first, until it became so bright I could not longer see. The next thing I felt was that I was being pulled right out of my skin. It didn't hurt but it felt so strange that I screamed. The feeling stopped and I could see again. Lisa and Kelly were holding each other and screaming their heads off, and then they started screaming even louder when I appeared in a flash of light. I rolled my eyes and threw a rock at them, and they stopped screaming. Kelly picked up the rock and threw it back. It hit me in the forehead, very painfully I might add, and she cracked up. I need new friends, and Kelly will be the first one replaced. Lisa giggled but was mostly just trying to figure out why I was with some guy in a white robe and how I had gotten here so fast.

"Um…hey you guys. So. This is Gandalf, and we're frickin trapped in Middle Earth," I started out. This would work. Good conversation starter. Kelly fainted of course. I had been wondering how long it would take her. She isn't exactly the brightest crayon in the box, and she's overdramatic. I was waiting for the whole fainting incident. Lisa didn't even looked at her. She just glared at me. Maybe she wouldn't start an argument. If I was lucky…

"Stop being a total fucktard and tell me what the fuck is going on." Okay. Maybe not. I sat down warily across from her on the grass and told her the whole story of how I got here the last time. It took almost a half hour.

"And so now apparently, I've only been gone for 24 hours. Which makes sense, because if each month is an hour in our world while I'm in Middle Earth, then 24 months in our world makes it 24 hours in Middle Earth. But so now we're back here and I have no idea how to get back home, but the good news is that Gandalf can fix your broken leg." Lisa stared at me with her sky blue eyes as big as saucers. She glared some more.

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," she said.

"You don't believe me?!" I cried in outrage. She crossed her arms and didn't say anything, so I poked her leg. She screamed and started crying like a baby. I was so shocked I couldn't speak for a moment.

"This can't be happening! I have a life! I have friends and family and lacrosse…" she sobbed. And then she saw the car. "And my car was brand new!" she screeched, her hands on either side of her face. I didn't know what to do. I had never seen Lisa like this before. If Lisa was crying…the apocalypse is coming! Wait! Maybe I died in the car crash and now I'm in hell…okay if I was in hell I probably deserved it. But come on! Middle Earth?! Again?! I had to think of another option, something she would believe in her fragile state.

"Hey Lisa! I'm sorry! Look that's not what really happened. One of us is probably unconscious and reaming all of this," I said cheerfully. She stopped crying and I congratulated myself, before she picked up a tree branch and hit me in the knee cap with it. I screamed and clutched at my knees.

"You bitch! Couldn't you have said that in the first place. Now we're going to be crippled together," she exclaimed with a sadistic grin. I glared at her.

"Slut."

"Retard."

"Idiot."

"Loser."

"RED!" I grinned triumphantly as she grabbed at her red hair indignantly, "People don't like gingers. They're stupid."

"The second I can walk again, I will kill you," she growled. I backed away from her a little because it looked like she meant it at the moment. Gandalf looked back and forth between us warily. Kelly woke up only seconds later and accepted the same the story I gave to Lisa.

"Although, it would be cool if we really were in Middle Earth," Kelly sighed. Gandalf started to say something, but I quickly shushed him. Lisa was deep in thought.

"Well, I hate Lord of the Rings, and Kelly is too stupid to get the storyline and just drools at Legolas the entire time," to which Kelly cooed happily, probably envisioning the arrow wielding elf himself, "So this must be your demented dream, Lena." I started to remind her that I gave up my addiction some time after meeting the real fellowship and deciding it wasn't as glamorous as it looked on the movies, but I didn't want her to flip out again, so I shrugged modestly and laughed. After that was the problem of dealing with Lisa's leg.

"Gandalf, fix her leg," I commanded the wizard. He raised and eyebrow and started to turn away. "Pleaseee!" I whined.

"I am not an elf nor am I a healer," he cried.

"So what? Can you still fix it?" I asked. He stared at Lisa for a moment and then sighed.

"I will try," he said. He walked over to Lisa and whispered soothingly to her who he was and what he was going to do. She laughed and rolled her eyes. Kelly was fascinated and never took her eyes off the old man while he was fixing Lisa's knee. He gently ran his hands up the broken leg, trying to find the exact spot it was broken it. Lisa yelped in pain when he got a few inches above her ankle. He set the tip of his white staff to the spot and started muttering in Elvish. The gem on the staff started to glow and Lisa looked afraid for the first time since Gandalf had spoken to her, so I walked over and let her clutch my hand. She hissed in pain a couple of times. It couldn't be easy to have your bone mend like that in only minutes. After the glowing died down, Gandalf smiled at her.

"I have done the most I can do my dear. It was not as bad as it seemed, but you will still have to rest for the next couple of days," he told her gently. She glared at him suspiciously, but finally relaxed and replied, "Okay." I had a sudden thought and pulled Gandalf off to the side.

"Gandalf, do you by any chance know what has happened to the others?" I asked. Gandalf furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Others?" I put my hands on either of his arms.

"Yes Gandalf the others. Aragorn, Gimli, the hobbits, anyone?" I urged. Gandalf shook his head sadly.

"I have not seen nor heard from any of them," he said sadly. I slumped ad lowered my eyes.

"Oh," I said quietly. Gandalf put a hand on my shoulder and I looked into his kind smiling face.

"Child, you are weary. Please let me show you where you can freshen up and rest perhaps, before you worry about our friends. You have two people now who are depending on you. Be strong," he reminded me. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"You're right, Gandalf. Of course." Gandalf patted my hand and gestured for me to follow him. I told Lisa and Kelly to follow him also and he led us to a leafy green riverbank. It was crowded with huge old trees, but here with Gandalf I didn't feel that sense of foreboding and closeness. There were patches of sunlight here and there coming through the trees, but it was still very cold. Gandalf noticed me shiver.

"I can promise you that you will find it much warmer when you are in your beds," he said. I was confused. I didn't see any beds. But then I saw that the bases of the trees had little entry ways cut into them. I went over to one whole and looked into it. Gandalf was right. It was significantly warmer in here, and there were beds of moss and giant leaves. I decided that it looked comfortable enough, but my pillow and blanket were definitely coming out of the car tonight. We thanked Gandalf, who told us that if we were hungry or thirsty, all we had to do was drink the water from the stream outside. I stared at it warily, probably because it was a little green. Lisa stated that she wouldn't have anything to do with drinking that water. Kelly happily obliged Gandalf by taking handful of water and slurping it up. Lisa sighed and shook her head sadly.

"Kelly, dear, get up," Lisa groaned. Kelly stood up and grinned blankly at Lisa and I. Honestly. The lights are all on but no one's home. For the next 4 days we drank the water and slept in the beds. When we ventured out, it was so I could talk to Gandalf about everything that had happened when he died and Kelly and Lisa could get their ipods and whatnot. I warned Lisa not to listen to it too much or the battery would die.

"So what?" she would laugh, "When you wake up from this nightmare I can charge it." I just rolled my eyes and went back to talking with Gandalf. Lisa broke into the Treasure Chest the first night here and drained the entire bottle of vodka. By herself. She had a hangover for two days straight and her crankiness got so annoying that I hid the Treasure Chest. Just so you know, the Treasure Chest is a giant suitcase in which we put all of our liquor and junk food during long road trips. She was even crankier than ever when she couldn't find it and almost beat the crap out of me. If she could've walked in a straight line, she would have. On the fourth day something finally happened. Kelly, Lisa and I were inside our little tree house thing playing rummy 500. Both had been happily accepting that this was a nightmare I had created in my unconscious state and were actually kind of enjoying it so far. Kelly slammed her last card down on the pile and grinned.

"Out!" she exclaimed. Lisa and I rolled our eyes and counted up our points. We added them together on the pad of paper we ahd and Lisa swore loudly.

"How could she win?!" Lisa cried in dismay as Kelly jumped up and began dancing around.

"I win! I win! For once I actually win!" Kelly yelled. Lisa and I glared at her and stated to head back to the car to get the money and stuff that we had bet on the game. Before we could crawl out of the tree, though, a very familiar blonde head poked into our tree. At first we didn't do anything. Kelly was the one who broke the silence. She let out an ear piercing scream and charged at Legolas.

"_Ai!_," Legolas yelled as he covered his ears. Out of pure shock he hesitated in the doorway, giving Kelly enough time to fling herself at him. They hit the ground outside and Lisa roared with laughter and couldn't move. I was enjoying the spectacle too, I must admit. Lisa and I hauled ourselves to the opening of the tree in time to see a terrified Legolas notching an arrow to his bow and aiming it at Kelly. I stopped laughing immediately and ran out of the tree.

"Legolas stop! Don't hurt her!" I yelled. He looked at me with surprise, but dropped the arrow. Gandalf, Aragorn and Gimli were standing off to the side. Legolas was confused at first, but then a light of recognition came into his eyes. He ran up to me and gave me a huge bear hug. I pried myself out of his grasp and he looked me up and down, his hands still on each of my shoulders.

"Lena? _Man caril hí? Mas bennich? Ce mae?,_" he asked me anxiously. I raised an eyebrow and placed both of my hands on his shoulders.

"Legolas I don't know Elvish. I don't remember any of it. And right now, I'm more interested in going home than trying to figure out what the hell you are saying," I snapped. His face fell and I instantly felt horrible. I heard someone gasp behind me and turned to see Lisa shaking her head.

"That was way harsh, even by my standards," Lisa said. Kelly, usually the typical dumb blonde who didn't get anything, covered her mouth and gave me a reprimanding glare. My face turned red and I looked at Legolas again.

"I'm sorry. Ask me again. This time in English." He was studying me cautiously.

"Your voice is deeper. And you look different," he said. And then he saw the scratch marks from the windshield. "What did they do to you?" he demanded. I grimaced and took a step back.

"I think we all need to talk. Together," I replied firmly. Legolas nodded his consent. Legolas turned and addressed Kelly.

"I apologize deeply for how I reacted earlier. It is not my intention to harm the friends of those whom I care about. If there is anything I can do for you, please do not hesitate to make your request known to me," Legolas told her, bowing for my effect. I burst out laughing and he glared at me. The glaring ahd been a more normal thing, even the last time I ahd been here. We were always fighting or not on speaking terms more or less when we entered Moria and the tension was back. Kelly swooned and nearly fell, and Legolas gave her a charming smile.

"Show off," I muttered. He shrugged and grinned at me.

"Jealous, _lirimaer_?" he asked. I rolled my eyes.

"Ugh please don't call me that anymore. That was what you called me when I was 15," I moaned. Legolas, offended, stalked past me and pushed his way past Aragorn, swearing under his breath in Elvish. Aragorn Glared and walked towards me.

"Why would you do that?" he asked.

"Do what? I haven't done anything!" I yelled defensively. Aragorn grabbed my right arm and shook a finger at me.

"You have no idea how worried he has been about you. You do not have any right to treat him in that manner. He cares for you. And what do you do? Embarrass him? Snap at him? Accuse him of coddling you? Show him the respect that he deserves, and nothing less, impudent child," he rebuked me. I stared at him in shock. And I found that I had absolutely nothing to say in my defense. I lowered my eyes and flushed.

"Sorry," I muttered, shuffling my feet.

"I am not the one you should apologize to. Tell him that you are sorry. And you will do it in Elvish, since it ahs apparently become so disdainful to you. If you have forgotten, it is _goheno-nin,_" he spat. I flinched at his tone.

"Yes," I mumbled. I looked up and Aragorn's handsome face softened.

"Now come greet me properly," he said, smiling. I gave him a hug and he stroked my hair. "We have been so worried about you. But when Gandalf explained to us that you and your friends were here, as well as Merry and Pippin, we were incredibly relieved. Until the small one tried to attack Legolas," he added. I laughed and pulled away from him.

"Kelly is a fan girl. I'll be surprised if your next on her list of 'Hot Guys In Middle Earth I Should Jump'." He looked slightly frightened at this and Kelly, hearing her name, waved frantically at us. He glanced suspiciously at her and I laughed.

"I've missed you," I finally said, looking at him. He hadn't changed a bit. The kingly gait and incredibly tall (at least from my POV) stature. The same dark stubble and hair, and the gray eyes. He was like a big brother to me and I drank in the sight of him. He smiled and ruffled my hair. Then he became serious.

"You are older. Only by a year or two, but older all the same," he stated, "This will be a problem with him. In mortal years, you would be considered nearly an adult." I knew who he was taking about.

"Yeah well, I have a lot to tell you guys about what happened at the battle with the Uruks," I said. We started to walk towards where Legolas had gone, which was in the direction of our car, but I turned around. Kelly and Lisa looked lost and out of place. Lisa looked on the verge of a mental breakdown and Kelly seemed as though she was about to cry. I realized that for a moment I had even forgotten that they were there. "You go ahead," I whispered to Aragorn. He nodded. I said hello to Gimli and bent down to give him a quick hug, then doubled back for my best friends. Lisa was crying.

"This isn't a dream, is it?" she asked. I sighed and shook my head. Kelly's giant blue eyes got even bigger and she almost burst into tears. I got in between my two friends and grabbed each of their hands.

"We'll be okay. I lived through this once. I can do it again. I will get us out of here," I promised them. Bravely, the three of us went to join what was left of the fellowship and to start our brand new adventure here in Middle Earth.


	3. Chapter 3

****

Sorry it took so long for this chapter you guys! I kind of got involved in a fanfic for PIRATES and a new story on fiction press so yeah…anyways you know what to do.

Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR. Yes sad but true.

It didn't take long to explain my story to Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Lisa and Kelly finally got over the shock of being in middle earth and started to calm down. Legolas gave me a bright smile when I was done.

"I am only glad that you were not harmed. We have all missed you," he said softly. Uh oh. I don't like the look in his eyes. Lisa and Kelly saw it too and started cracking up, but Legolas seemed oblivious.

"Eh… yeah. Well of course you guys missed me. Because you guys are my friends. All of you. Just friends," I exclaimed. Aragorn glared at me and Gimli gave me a reprimanding frown. I'm sorry if Blondie is Mr. Sensitive Pants! He needs to learn how to take constructive criticism. Legolas took the hint.

"Of course. It would not be any other way." Lisa snickered and stood up.

"Okay we have to discuss something so I'm going to steal the heartbreaker over here for a couple hours."

"Burn in hell, whore."

"I'll see you there. Now come with me."

"No."

"Stop being a gay wad."

****

sticks tongue out at Lisa

Lisa grabbed on a chunk of my hair. I grabbed onto hers. She started to pull. I pulled harder. It went on until we were both screaming at each other to let go. She kept on pinching me.

"Fine I'll go! I hate you!" We turned around. The fellowship (or a fragment of it) was staring at us like we were insane. Which we are. Kelly had a bag of peanut M&M's and was watching the show with interest. Mad that I had once again lost to Lisa, I stole Kelly's M&M's. She burst into tears while Lisa shook her head in disgust and I happily munched on the M&M's.

"I did not think it possible, but the lass is even madder than she was yesterday," Gimli said in wonder. Aragorn shook his head.

"It is the other two. She feeds off of their energy like some sort of parasite!" Aragorn whispered, horrified. Kelly's howls grew louder and Legolas decided that this all had to end. He spoke to her sharply in Elvish and put a hand over her mouth. Instantly, she shut up. I knew that nothing good would come from this and Lisa and I sat with Aragorn and Gimli and Gandalf to watch. Legolas removed his hand and glared at her. Kelly blankly stared at him for a second before a grin crept slowly over her face.

"Hot. Elffff…" she started slowly. Lisa and I began to laugh hysterically and Legolas looked completely confused. Suddenly Kelly threw herself at him.

"Elfie? Mine!" She squealed. He backed away, trying to pry her off of him.

"No!" he yelled. She let go and looked at him with tears in her big blue eyes. Slowly she began to sniffle, and then cry.

"Why are you so mean to me?!" she howled. Legolas, ever the gentleman, gave me a stricken glance and put a comforting hand on Kelly's shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt you," he pleaded. She instantly brightened and attached himself to her arm. He looked at me.

"Please release me," he begged. I laughed and shrugged. Meanwhile, Kelly was cooing softly to him and clinging to his arm for dear life. Lisa rolled her eyes and got up.

"Okay elf. I'll help you, but you owe me a HUGE favor after this," she warned him.

"Whatever you wish and it shall be yours!" he agreed. Lisa walked over and whispered something into Kelly's ear. She straightened up and looked at her.

"What?" Lisa nodded slowly.

"Yeah look at him. It's not Orlando." Kelly inspected Legolas and found that Lisa was right. She instantly let go and beamed at him.

"I'm sorry." She immediately followed Lisa and I to the tree.

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"What… in the name of the Valar… was that?" Gandalf asked slowly. Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas stared sadly at him. Legolas spoke up first.

"Those would be our new companions to Rohan."

"May Eru help us all," he whispered gravely. The other three companions agreed.

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I told Kelly and Lisa the whole story, not leaving a single thing out. When I was done, they stared at me in awe.

"How could you have kept that from us?" Lisa asked, a little hurt. I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"I told you. It was before I even knew you," I told her softly. She slammed a fist on the ground and stood up.

"Even afterwards! You could've said something!" she yelled. "Then maybe I would have some idea how to handle this whole situation. But now I don't. And we're trapped here in this stupid place and all I want is to go home!" she yelled. I stood up and we faced each other, legs apart and locked, hands curled into fists at our sides. Kelly was starting to look even more upset.

"You guy please-" she started, but I cut her off.

"Look Lisa! I'm sorry that we're stuck here! More than anyone else I wish I never had to see this place again! But we're here and we can't go back, and the only thing we can do is make the best of this situation." I walked over to her, no longer glaring, and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Lisa. Stop trying to control the problem. Let someone else handle it." Lisa stared at me blankly, then pivoted on her heel and dove into our tree house. Kelly was sitting on a log, watching me. I sat next to her and put my head in my hands.

"What are we going to do? What if I can't get us back this time? What if the portal doesn't open again and we're stuck here forever?" Kelly thought for a moment and then smiled sadly at me.

"Then take your own advice. Stop doing all the worrying and make the best out of this problem." She put an arm around my shoulder and grinned. I looked at my best friend, wondering how she got so smart all of a sudden. Many people assumed that Kelly and I were sisters when they first met us. We were both petite and loud and preppy and danced. In short, Kelly was like me in almost every way. I grinned back and decided she was right.

"So…" she began, "How is it that you nabbed a hottie elf prince?" I laughed and smacked her playfully on the arm. She watched me expectantly.

"Well…it's more like a misunderstanding. I just like him as a friend. There was another guy, er, elf, before, when I was living with Elrond. His name was Glorfindel. There was a thing there. Then throw Legolas in and there was this whole drama that was actually really stupid. I didn't choose either of them." Kelly stared at me for a second and then hit me. Hard. I grabbed my arm and stared at her in shock.

"You had two hot elf princes fighting over you?!" she screeched.

"Glorfindel isn't a prince," I scowled, "I don't know. He's like Elrond's right hand man or chief advisor or whatever you want to call it. He's important I know that much." She rolled her eyes and laughed.

"It's just like you to try to make something this big seem like some tiny little thing. So how old are these guys anyway?"

"Yeah. Um that's another little road block. I think Legolas is close to a thousand years old. Glorfindel is a lot older so…"

"Okay. I have to admit that's just the tiniest bit disturbing." I pulled at my hair and sighed.

"Yeah. But that only makes me wonder what's so special about me. I don't have profound wisdom. I'm not especially smart or pretty." Kelly hit me again and glared at me. I glared back. "I will show you a female elf next time we meet one and then you can compare me to one of them. It's no beauty contest. They win, hands down. I'm not exceptionally talented. I don't have a charming personality. I don't get it!" I cried. Kelly made a shushing motion and pointed in the direction of where Gimli, Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf were staying.

"They'll hear you!"

"They won't. Legolas will. And it doesn't matter because he's an elf and he's probably heard the entire conversation. Stupid elves and they're hearing… no offense!" I called in their direction. Kelly thought about it hard for a second.

"Well…in the movies the elves are kind of boring. They really don't have personalities. Maybe he likes the fact that you aren't charming. Maybe he likes the fact that you have flaws and all that crap. Maybe he likes that you're human?" she suggested. I shrugged and we sat quietly for a while. Lisa came out of the tree and stood in front of us while we were thinking. I looked up at her and waited. She tossed her red hair over her shoulder and sighed.

"So I've been thinking. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. I mean, those guys don't seem to be that bad. We're obviously safe with them. And we'll get out sooner or later…" she stated. Kelly and I grinned and jumped up to hug her. She laughed and hugged us back. I looked at the two of them and we all smiled at each other.

"We'll be fine," I whispered. I wrapped an arm around their shoulders and steered them back to the clearing. Aragorn and Gandalf were talking quietly to each other. Gimli was sharpening his axe with a rock. Legolas wasn't exactly sulking, but he wasn't quite as happy as he had been when I left. Lisa joined Gandalf and Aragorn to interrogate them about the new plan for riding to Edoras, and Kelly joined her for…well whatever reason Kelly had. She usually sticks with Lisa when she's in doubt since Lisa is the more take-charge girl out of our group or friends. This left me with Legolas. Of course. He looked up and smiled at me as I approached.

"Two years? Have you managed to learn how to fight in all of that time?" I laughed and grabbed one of his arrows, holding it like a lacrosse stick. He grinned and swiped it away from me. I held up my hands and backed away.

"Like I thought I'd end up back here again," I laughed. He shrugged. "Fine then. Show me how to fight." He looked surprised.

"Now?" I nodded.

"I'll probably never use what I learn, but hey. It'll keep me entertained." He handed me his sword. It was small and light and felt easy to use. We spared for about 20 minutes before he called it quits.

"You were not very bad." I stared at him and snorted.

"Are you kidding me? I was horrible!" He laughed quietly and nodded in agreement, a lock of blonde hair falling over his shoulder.

"Yes you were. But now you do have some idea of how to fight if you were ever to come across a lone orc," he said putting a hand on my shoulder. I cracked up and rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. If the orc was blind, had no arms, and was afraid of teenage girls. I'm sure I can find a million of those." He laughed with me and didn't respond. And then he looked at me again. He was serious this time.

"Lena. I am sorry for how I have been acting. I have been foolish and it was unacceptable for me to put you in this position. I swear to you that I will not forget my manners the this time, and please know that you can depend on me for anything. As your friend and as one of your protectors I will not fail you again," he finished, looking me directly in the eye. I gave him my brightest smile and stood on my tip toes to give him a hug.

"Thanks Legolas. And don't worry about it. You didn't fail me. Everyone makes mistakes, even elves," I told him. I spent the rest of the time catching up with Legolas and Gimli. And Legolas actually did start acting way more normal after his little apology. Even I was amazed at how quickly he managed to bounce back. I even started to think that maybe the trip to Edoras wouldn't be as awkward as I had imagined. We started to get our things together and my friends and I gathered our essentials from the car when Gimli spoke up.

"And that is it? We leave the young hobbits to fend for themselves in Fangorn?" he barked roughly, glaring at Gandalf. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"Gimli they're fine. They're with Treebeard." I told him. He sighed and nodded at me, then walked off to join Legolas. I went over to my friends.

"So what are we going to do about riding arrangements? There are only three horses, which means there will have to be three people on one horse," I stated. Aragorn nodded and looked at Gandalf.

"She is right. We will be riding hard, and it would be dangerous to attempt to share a horse with three people," he said softly. Legolas and Gimli came over to join the discussion.

"Gimli will be riding with me, so I cannot bring another onto my horse," Legolas said. Kelly spoke up.

"That's a crazy reason. Gimli is tiny! He can't take up that much room." I burst out laughing and Legolas' mouth twitched at the corners, but he managed to remain dignified and serious for the most part. Lisa, on the other hand, looked thoughtful.

"As offensive as that was, she is right. Kelly is the tiniest one out of all of us, so you could take her and Gimli. I could ride with Aragorn, and Lena and Gandalf could ride together," she exclaimed. Gandalf looked at her for a moment and then nodded slowly.

"I must say, the young lady makes a very good point. I am sorry Gimli, but I admit that she is quite right." The dwarf glared at him and crossed his arms over his chest. Gandalf smiled and bent over to whisper in the dwarf's ear. Gimli smiled and laughed, brightening visibly. We walked to the edge of the forest looking out over a meadow of green grasses, and large rocks or trees jutting out of the ground every so often. Lisa arched an eyebrow and exchanged a glance with me. I put a finger to my lips and indicated that she keep looking. Gandalf whistled, a high, piercing sound riding in the still air. A whinnying neigh answered him, and a beautiful white horse came trotting over the distance to meet us. It stopped beside Gandalf, who stroked the horse's muzzle. Legolas looked at it, blue eyes as big as saucers.

"I do believe that this is one of the Mearas. And he has answered your call!" he said in soft disbelief. I hid a smile behind my hand at Legolas' excitement. Gandalf chuckled and let the horse nuzzle his shoulder as he turned to look at us.

"This is Shadowfax, the lord of all horses, and he has been my friend for many years," he said, gesturing towards the huge animal, "Now, we must ride quickly. Edoras is in danger, and we must hurry to the aid of King Theoden." Gandalf helped me up first onto the horse, and I tried not to look down. If it had been any other horse, I would have been afraid, but I knew that Shadowfax would never let me fall. Legolas helped up Kelly and Gimli, and then jumped lightly onto his horse. Lisa didn't need any help thanks to her horse back riding lessons, although she winced when she realized that she would be riding bare back. Gandalf and I went first, followed by the other to. I felt a sudden jolt and as I looked down, I could barely see. It was all a blur, and yet the horse's gait was strong and swift, hardly jostling me around at all. I turned to see the other two horses keep up a good, steady pace so ways behind us. Aragorn turned to Legolas and yelled something out to him in Elvish. The elf grinned and replied by leaning forward on his horse and whispering into the animal's ear. At once the horse picked up speed, leaving Aragorn behind in a cloud of dust. Legolas glanced back at the man and laughed. I rolled my eyes and turned to face forward again, seeing Gandalf smile at the two friends.

We rode for a little over half the day and finally came into the sight of the city of Edoras. It sat on a hill, and I could make out the great hall of the king sitting at the very top. Gandalf slowed Shadowfax to a stop, and Legolas and Aragorn did the same with their horses. Lisa looked around.

"Why are we stopping?" she shouted over the wind. The men pulled in closer and Gandalf continued to stare at the city. He finally spoke after a long pause.

"This, my friends, is the city of Edoras. That large fortress at the top is the Golden Hall of Mudeseld. It is home to King Theoden, whose mind has been poisoned by Saruman. I believe that should we get there in time, we will be able to help the king throw Saruman's hold over him." Kelly and Lisa shrugged at each other and whispered to each other in hushed tones, while Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Aragorn, and I stared at Edoras.

"So what's the plan after we help King Theoden?" I asked. Gandalf looked at me and chuckled.

"Plan? My dear, there is no plan." He whispered something to Shadowfax and the horse took off again. We slowed to a trot when we reached the entrance to the city. It was actually quite big, but still kind of rundown and seedy. We got many stares from the people of the village, I think mostly because of Legolas and of my best friends and I. I smiled encouragingly to the people as we passed, while Gandalf stuck to a vague nod. We finally approached the hall after climbing a flight of stone steps to be met by four of the castle guards. We all hopped off of the horses, with me doing a more of a trip and stumble off of Shadowfax, and were commanded to hand over any and all weapons. I started to step forward and one of the guards stopped me.

"You must hand over your bag," he said, indicating my backpack. I glared at him.

"It's just some food and personal possessions." He shook his head and another guard closed in on me.

"I cannot take your word for it. Please," he said more firmly, grabbing the bag. I shook my head and rolled my eyes, but didn't argue any further. Kelly and Lisa took my lead and came to stand beside me. The other four were busy handing over their weapons. Gimli was the one who was most loathe to hand over his weapons. He grumbled the entire time, and had a hard time letting go of his axe before they finally pried it from his grip. Gandalf started to go through the doors, but one of the guards grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"I am afraid you must give me your staff." Gandalf glanced at him beseechingly and leaned more of his wait against the staff.

"Oh, but you would not part an old man from his walking stick?" The man hesitated, but after a moment nodded his head. I gravitated toward Legolas, who had taken Gandalf's arm after a knowing wink from the old wizard. I knew that elves were perfect at practically everything, and though I had never seen him in hand to hand combat, I had a feeling he was the one I should stick with. As we entered, I looked at what was probably the ugliest man I had ever seen in my life. Take the actor from the movie, and multiply the ugliness by 20, and you would get a greasy haired man that could pass as a mutated offspring of Gollum. He was whispering into the ear of King Theoden. His fair hair was now white, and his long beard trailed the floor. He was small, his robes shabby and dirty, and his eyes were a plain dishwater gray. Grima surveyed our company and laughed, a harsh sound which seemed to fit with the atmosphere of the hall.

"You bring children to protect you? My Gandalf the Gray, it seems that old age has gotten the best of you. Can you no longer defend yourself?" Grima asked, his black eyes lingering the longest on tiny blonde Kelly. She cowered against me, stepping somewhat behind me. Grima laughed again, starting to step forward, eyes still on my best friend. She squeaked and attempted to disappear behind Aragorn. Infuriated, I yelled out to him.

"You stoop so low as to insulting the Mithrandir and scaring little girls to intimidate us? That is a poor welcome, Grima Wormtongue. And why should Gandalf have to defend himself? We have offered no quarrel!" I sneered, attempting to sound as Middle Earthish as possible. The man growled softly and stood up as straight as he was able to. I clutched at Legolas and stepped behind the tall elf. Grima once again whispered in Theoden's ear, and the old man nodded in response.

"And why…should I welcome…you…Gandalf Stormcrow?" he sneered, gasping for breath. I felt unbelievably sorry for Theoden, to be controlled by such a manipulative little fuck. Grima nodded and patted the king on the arm. The little man came forward, stopping only a few feet away from Gandalf. I was struck by the thought that if I had that staff and Grima was only that far from me, all hell would have broken loose.

"Ill news is an ill guest. King Theoden tires of your company! Leave at once!" Gandalf waved his staff menacingly at Wormtongue and took a menacing step forward. Grima quickly scampered back a few steps.

"His staff! I told you to take the wizard's staff!" Gandalf pushed Grima out of the way and walked slowly toward Theoden. At once the guards rushed in to stop him, and Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli fought them off. Kelly got in a few good punches, but Lisa and I were grabbed from behind by two guards. I shrieked and kicked at the man, finally making contact with his kneecap. He still didn't let go, until the guard from the gate stepped forward and told him quietly to release me. The guard did so, and Lisa, Kelly and I ran to each other and watched Gandalf exorcise Saruman from Theoden's body. It was actually quite scary. Gandalf had thrown off his gray robes and stood over the cowering Theoden, a great white giant against the blandness of the hall. Theoden was squirming in pain and shouting and Aragorn had just restrained a beautiful blonde woman in a gray dress. And when King Theoden spoke, it most certainly was not his voice.

"If I leave, Theoden will die," snarled Saruman, an ugly look on Theoden's face. Gandalf glared.

"I will not allow it!" Theoden writhed in pain and with one final hiss, passed out in his chair. He instantly seemed to grow 30 years younger, a very handsome middle aged. Aragorn let go of the blonde woman, who instantly rushed to Theoden's side. The king looked up at her and smiled, cupping her cheek gently in his hand.

"Eowyn?" he whispered. She sniffed and beamed at him. She helped him up and he looked at Gandalf.

"Theoden. Thank goodness you are well again," Gandalf said, laying a hand on the king's shoulder. Theoden smiled and sighed, looking down at himself.

"Thank you my friend. I would have been lost to the power of that twisted little snake, Grima, had you not arrived here in time," he said seriously, nodding his head, and then growing enraged and looking around him, "Where is he? I will kill him myself!" There was a high pitched squealing noise and then gasping. Gimli had pinned Grima down and was stepping on his throat. The man was frantically clawing at Gimli's boot and attempting to escape his captor. Theoden's face twisted into an ugly smile and he drew his sword. The guards picked him up, one of them being the head guardsman that had saved Lisa and I, who did it with the same twisted grin Theoden was wearing. They opened the doors and threw him outside, and we heard him land outside on the cold stone steps as they threw him out. Theoden came right behind him, followed by Gandalf, who was desperately trying to reason with Theoden. The rest of us followed them outside, where Theoden had just kicked Grima down the flight of steps. Theoden was waving his sword wildly, advancing upon the groveling little man.

"My liege, I have ever been your faithful servant! I am your Grima! I have only tried to help you!" Grima was screaming as he scuttled away from Theoden. The king's blonde hair flew wildly around his face and he had to keep pushing his heavy coat out of his way.

"You would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast! A traitor in my own home!" Theoden roared. His blue eyes flashed dangerously and Gandalf ran at him to intervene, just as Theoden started to bring down his sword on the screaming Grima. Kelly gasped and buried her face in my shoulder and Lisa covered her mouth. Gandalf pulled him back and Legolas and Aragorn rushed forward in case Gandalf needed help restraining him. Finally Theoden calmed down and stood still in Gandalf's arms, still breathing hard and glaring at Grima.

"Let him go, Theoden! Enough blood has been shed on his account," Gandalf yelled. Theoden glanced at him and softened. He gave Grima one last kick in the ribs and the man limped off, shooting a death glare at King Theoden over his shoulder. They turned around and I stepped in front of them.

"Gandalf! Are you kidding me? He's going to go straight to Saruman! How could you save him!" Gandalf stared past me, waiting for me to get out of his way. I sighed and stepped aside. Theoden shot me, Lisa, Kelly, Legolas, and Gimli a very confused look, but continued to walk with Gandalf. Eowyn was gazing dreamily at Aragorn and I nudged the man and nodded in her direction. He pretended not to notice so I elbowed him hard in the ribs. He gave me an annoyed glare.

"What?"

"Blondie is staring at you."

"I told you to stop harassing Legolas!" I grinned evilly, remembering the talk. Legolas looked over his shoulder at me and frowned. I laughed.

"I wasn't talking about Legolas. I was talking about Eowyn. But while we're on the subject, why would you assume it was Legolas? Are you subconsciously insinuating something about him that the rest of us don't know?" Aragorn looked alarmed and shook his head. Legolas came back and walked with us. I snickered and looked back and forth between them. The blonde elf grabbed my arm and glared at me threateningly.

"What are you doing?" I laughed and rubbed my hands together. I was going to enjoy this. I had been acting mature for way longer than necessary. Aragorn grabbed my other arm, wearing the same expression as Legolas.

"Don't do it," he warned. I cleared my throat and waited a moment to build the suspense, and then I began.

"Legolas and Aragorn sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-"

"_Ai!_"they both yelled simultaneously. I threw my head back and laughed some more, drawing some attention from Kelly and Lisa. Legolas and Aragorn stared at me as though they were face to face with Sauron himself, then scurried ahead to catch up with Gandalf and Theoden. Gimli followed, but more slowly, still shaking with laughter and giving me an approving smile. I beamed back and put an arm around my friends, telling them what I had done. Kelly giggled through the whole thing while Lisa let out a howl of laughter.

We got to the dining hall, where Gandalf introduced all of us to Theoden, and gave me a warning glance. We made idle chit chat with the king, and then he sent us all off to get fresh clothing. Legolas passed on the new clothes, so Theoden told him that while he was in the wash chambers he would have all of our clothes washed. Lisa, Kelly and I all got dresses. They weren't very fancy like the Elvish clothes, but we figured that we would just wear these for now and then wear our old clothes once we started traveling again. I also had to have a talk with Gandalf about not harassing Legolas _or _Aragorn.

"Okay. No teasing them about their love for each other," I stated. Gandalf shook his head sadly and left the room so that Lisa, Kelly and I could be shown to our room.


	4. Chapter 4

****

Disclaimer: I don't own lotr!

It seemed as soon as we had gotten dressed that Legolas came to the door.

"Come. Theodred's burial will begin soon," the elf said quietly when we let him in. I told him we would be right there and began to put on my shoes.

"Who is Theodred?" Kelly asked tentatively as soon as Legolas had gone. I tossed my blonde hair over my shoulder and put on a simple light gray cloak that had been brought with our clothes. I sighed and walked out of the room, with the other two scurrying after me.

"Theodred is King Theoden's only son. His only child if I'm not mistaken," I explained to them. Lisa looked confused.

"Well then who is Eowyn?" she asked. We were starting to near the great hall, and I could see servants rushing back and forth. The palace guards looked frazzled, and the guard from the door was shouting out directions to the others. I lowered my voice when I spoke next.

"Eowyn is his niece. She and her brother, Eomer, were adopted by the king a long time ago. Now that Theodred is dead, Eomer is the new heir to the throne of Rohan."

"Are you ready?" I jumped a mile out of my skin and saw that Legolas had appeared behind me.

"Yes," we answered. He nodded and joined Gimli. Eowyn and her uncle came next. His face was blank, devoid of any emotion, but there were silent tears running down his cheeks. Aragorn had taken his other arm and was whispering soothingly to him. Theoden nodded his head, but it was obvious he wasn't listening. Gandalf came next and we followed him out the door. The entire village was headed to a small his right outside of the Edoras, and I could vaguely make out the tomb. As we got closer and closer, the muscles in Theoden's face started to spasm as he choked back his tears.

The service was short, but very nice and personal. Almost all of the townspeople were sobbing for the loss of their beloved prince. A man stood at the head of Theodred's coffin and said a few words, praising Theodred and all of his accomplishments and how much he was loved by his people. Theoden was calm and dignified as a king should be, although there were a few moments when he nearly lost his self control. Eowyn broke down halfway through the service and buried her face in her hands. Her uncle hugged her lightly to him, blinking back tears. The rest of us kept silent, sad faces on through the service. Finally it was over. The townspeople started to head back to their homes. Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Lisa, Kelly, and I stayed only a few moments more, and decided to give the king time alone before the body was moved into the family tomb. Eowyn and most of the castle guards and other close friends of the family left soon after along with us, but not before I heard a low moan rise from behind us.

"My Theodred, my only son." We all pretended not to hear the king's anguish, and left him and Gandalf behind. Eowyn brought up the rear of the party, reluctant to leave her grief stricken uncle. I felt like I should say something, give her my condolences, anything. But I knew that right now it was the last thing she wanted to hear.

"That was really sad. And short," I whispered to Legolas. He nodded and made some noise of acknowledgement.

"Why were all of the palace guards and the servants running around? They looked like they were packing." Legolas became even more serious.

"We leave tomorrow for Helm's Deep," he told me. I stopped and grabbed his arm, completely forgetting where I was and who I was talking to at the moment.

"The battle sequence at Helm's Deep! With the ten thousand Orcs!" I shrieked. Legolas' eyes widened considerably and he dragged me off to the side, away from other people. We were almost back at the Golden Hall, so I started walking quickly to the doors.

"Lena!" he yelled, catching up to me easily," What ten thousand Orcs?" I sighed but kept walking

"I'll tell you later when I've got everyone together." He rolled his eyes but accepted my answer. We went down to the dining hall, where Eowyn and a few others were eating. Everyone was offered bowls of soup, some bread, and a mug of ale. As I ate and talked with Lisa and Kelly, I decided exactly how much I should let the others in on. I had to figure out what I could change and what I had to leave alone so the story would go the way it was supposed to go. I decided that for one, there was no reason that I shouldn't save Haldir. Well not personally. My ass was going to be huddled in the caves with all the other women and children. But I could let the others know to keep an eye on the elf. Maybe I could let them know that they win the battle. Just to give them some hope while they're fighting. But what if they decide that they don't have to fight as hard because they are going to win? Then they'll end up losing and it will be my fault! A small cough distracted me from my thoughts and I looked up to find Gimli, and Legolas staring at me.

"…um hey guys."

"…"

"So about that thing I said earlier." They stared at me, waiting for me to go on.

"Why don't you come with us and tell us?" I sighed and followed them over to a table against the far wall. Once we got there I plopped down next to Aragorn and began to tell them what I knew.

"All I know is that there is going to be ten thousand Orcs, Aragorn is going to fall off a cliff during a battle with the wargs on our way to Helm's Deep, and Haldir is going to die," I said. They all started speaking at once.

"Ten thousand!"

"What wargs?"

"What happened to Haldir?!"

I held up a hand to silence them.

"That's what I know." Aragorn's eye twitched at the corner and Legolas and Gimli glared angrily at me. I smiled and started to get up, but Legolas swiftly jumped up and forced me to sit back down.

"You lie. There is something that you are not telling us," Aragorn accused me. I tried my best to put on an innocent expression, but gripped my arm. Hard. Gimli came into view first. He had climbed next to me on the bench and was standing on it so that he was taller than me, something which I found very insulting.

"Now lass, let us start with the wargs. Where are they?" Gimli asked.

"Ow! Aragorn is hurting me!"

"Then tell us."

"They're on the way to Helm's Deep! Aragorn get off of me, you ass!"

"Exactly where along they way?"

"I don't know!"

"Are you sure? You can't remember any landmarks?"

"I don't know! It was just a big field! I can't remember! I haven't read the books or seen the movies in like two years!" Gimli studied me for a moment, and then nodded, turning the interrogation over to Aragorn. I hate when Aragorn is mad. His eyes look like they're glowing and there's this big pounding blood vessel in his neck. It's scary, and at the moment, he was absolutely livid that I was trying to withhold information from them.

"How does he die?"

"I don't remember. I think he get's stabbed by an orc."

"Where?"

"Where does he get stabbed or where does the stabbing take place at?" Aragorn rolled his eyes and squeezed tighter.

"All right! At the battle at Helm's Deep! I already told you that!" Aragorn glared at me suspiciously.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm on your side, remember? Believe me, I'm only telling you the important stuff. The stuff that I can change. I'm not going to tell you more than you need to know and you can't make me!" Aragorn raised both eyebrows and stared at me.

"Really?" I gave him a nasty look and stood up from the table. The doors to the dining hall were thrown open and in walked Gandalf, Theoden and the guards. Trailing somewhat behind them were two young kids, a boy and a little girl who looked no more than five or six. Eowyn immediately rushed to get the kids some warm blankets and food, dropping the sword that she had been practicing with. Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli forgot all about me and went to go tell Gandalf the things I just told them, and I flounced indignantly back to the table with Lisa and Kelly. The two sets of blue eyes followed me carefully before Lisa finally burst out with, "What was that all about?"

"They were being stupid. I tried to help them out and they freaking went all bad cop-worse cop on me." I told them everything that happened at the table and lifted up my sleeve to find a small bruise on my upper arm. I grimaced. Aragorn always had to be such a hard ass.

"Well you can't really blame him," Kelly said, still picking at her food, "I mean, Borimir turned out to be after the ring, and they considered him one of the good guys. You could be under the influence of evil and none of us would even suspect it." She stopped picking at her food and stared at me. I sighed exasperatedly and threw my bread at her.

"I am not under the influence of evil you moron!" Kelly grinned sheepishly and continued eating.

"But she's right. They're just looking out for us," Lisa reminded me with her mouth full. A few crumbs of food spilled onto the table and Kelly and I wrinkled our noses in disgust. Lisa grinned and continued to stuff her face to the point of her cheeks exploding. Kelly leaned to her side and looked past me.

"What the hell is she doing?" I turned around and looked to see Eowyn practicing with the sword again. I shrugged and looked at Aragorn, who was at the moment fixated on Eowyn. An alarm went off in my head and I nonchalantly strode over to Aragorn before he could make his way over to her.

"Catching flies?" I asked him. He gave me a confused smile. "Close your mouth." He glared at me.

"Why have you come to bother me yet again?" It was my turn to glare at him.

"Look. I'm not friends with Arwen. I'm not friends with this Eowyn chick. But I am friends with you. And I refuse to let you have lustful thoughts about Eowyn while you are practically engaged to Arwen. It's wrong." Aragorn turned, his back facing Eowyn, and gave me his full attention.

"I am not having lustful thoughts about that woman. I was merely admiring her skill with the sword," he snapped, "Speak not of things that you do not understand." His eyes flashed dangerously and I held up a hand.

"Whatever. It's your funeral. But she'll be the one getting hurt if you keep on giving her these signals. She already likes you a lot and she's never even said three words to you," I snapped back. He opened his mouth to continue yelling at me, but King Theoden called him over.

"We shall finish this later," he warned me. I rolled my eyes, and went over to Eowyn. She didn't see me coming and nearly sliced my hand off when I tapped her on the shoulder. Startled, she turned to see me cradling my right hand and staring at her in shock. She dropped her sword and grabbed my hand to inspect the small cut her sword had made.

"I am very sorry," she said, looking around for a damp cloth. I laughed and took my hand back to suck at my hand.

"It's fine. I should have known better than to sneak up on a feminist with a sword. She gave me a puzzled look and swept a lock of blonde hair out of her face. I didn't remember the movies all that much, but the real Eowyn was much prettier than the woman from the movie. I was starting to realize that there was a trend starting to appear. The movies or the books didn't do any of these people justice when it came to looks, and sometimes even personalities.

"I am not feminist. I am Rohirian," she replied. I stared at her for a second and then sighed sadly.

"Never mind. Ignore the odd vocabulary. I come from a land very far away, so I apologize ahead of time if I use words you might not be familiar with." Eowyn nodded and smiled.

"Where is this land you come from?" she asked conversationally. I racked my mind for something, anything to use. I put on my best acting face and gave her a secretive look, indicating that she come closer.

"I would honestly tell you, but my land is unknown to much of the outside world. Few people know of it, save those who come from there. My king and queen, not to mention Lord Elrond of Rivendell, a wise and powerful elf, would much rather our world stay a secret." It wasn't the truth, but for the most part it wasn't actually lie. I could see that Eowyn didn't trust me at all and glanced at her uncle who was deep in conversation with the rest of the company. She picked up her sword and swung it around a little to try intimidating me. It was working very well.

"Would you be allowed to tell me about this land of many secrets?" she asked, as if she had absolutely no interest in it. I twirled a piece of blonde hair around my finger, and I tried to look at her instead of at the way the torchlight caught the red in my hair.

"What do you want to know? It isn't a very interesting place. We just like our privacy," I explained.

"Do you have an army?"

"Yeah. You have to sign up for it though and go through months of special training." She stopped swinging the sword around.

"And only men are allowed in this army?"

"No. Women can be in it too. But you have to be 18 or older." I had her full attention now. She put the sword down and lowered her voice, wringing her hands excitedly.

"Your women may fight? They may go into battle? I have never heard of such a thing before, though I only wish that such customs would be more common," she sighed. The longing in her eyes was clear. I personally didn't understand her need to fight. I am a born coward, and hell would freeze over before I actually went into battle. I patted her lightly on the shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry. If it's any consolation, you will probably be seeing battle much sooner than you think." She looked at me quizzically and I gave her a conspiring wink. I was about to ask her to show me some of her moves since she was actually very good, but Aragorn called me over.

"Hold on! I'm hanging out with Eowyn!" I called back. Aragorn gave me a dirty look and began to walk over to me.

"You will come here right now!" I rolled my eyes ad turned back to Eowyn. She looked slightly alarmed.

"Should you not go to him?" she asked. I shrugged.

"Maybe. But it doesn't mean that I have to. It's not like he's my husband or anything." Something in her face became visibly more relaxed, as if she had been holding her breath, tightened, working up the courage to find out this question. I jumped back and made a nasty face. "Ew! You thought me…and him…ewwww!" She blushed furiously and looked down at the ground.

"I am sorry. I did not mean …." she let her apology trail off. Legolas, his pointed ears pricking up at my squeal of disgust, strode over to me and took my arm.

"Are you all right?" he asked both me and Eowyn. We nodded and he smiled.

"Good. Please come with me. Gandalf would like to speak to you." I shrugged and grinned at Eowyn.

"No problem. But he is taken, and not by me, so if I were you, I'd try to get over him, and fast," I told her seriously. She blushed again and refused to meet my eyes, instead picking up the sword and practicing as if I weren't there. I could tell Legolas wanted to ask me what had happened but he acted as though nothing were wrong. When I reached the small group, Aragorn glared at me.

"She comes when we send the elf to fetch her yet she refuses to obey me," he grumbled. I grinned and gave the elf prince a hug.

"Yes but the elf is hot. And clean." Legolas gave a small diplomatic chuckle and I let go of him. Gandalf quite frankly looked embarrassed to be seen with me. Theoden thought it was funny. I hope.

"I have heard good things about you, Lena," Theoden said. He looked tired, and suddenly not much older than he had been when being possessed by Saruman. I felt really bad for the man.

"They must have been coming from Legolas," I teased. The elf blushed slightly but maintained his composure. I love embarrassing Legolas. It's one of the best things I can find to do in my spare time. Theoden laughed.

"With the few scattered comments from Gandalf and the rest of your company," he agreed, his blue eyes brightening somewhat. I turned my attention to Gandalf.

"What did you want to see me for?"

"Tommorrow we leave for Helm's deep. You, Lisa, and Kelly shall go to the caves with the women and children." I burst out laughing and Gandalf looked taken aback.

"You say that like I was actually planning on fighting. I'm not like Eowyn. I'm not brave and I don't know how to fight. I have no problem sitting in the caves and tending to everyone else." Theoden cast a long look at his niece, who had stopped what she was doing and was watching our small group, obviously more than a little pissed that I was allowed to be in on the discussion and she wasn't. I decided that it was my time to leave, and curtsied to the king. " I will go to bed now. Your highness, I am sorry for your loss." His shoulders slumped and he touched my arm.

"Thank you child," he whispered. I said good night to everyone else, although Eowyn ignored me when I said good night to her. Lisa and Kelly said that they wanted to stay up later and I instantly fell asleep when I got back to my room.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings. Read and review, you know the drill.**

A sudden knock at the door disturbed me from sleep. Since there were no windows in our room, I couldn't tell what time it was. I grabbed Kelly's pillow and shoved it over my head, but the knocking came again, more insistent this time. I groaned and blew a chunk of Lisa's red hair out of my face, and jumped up to answer the door. Standing on the other side was, of course, Legolas. I found it funny that they had made the prince of Mirkwood their errand boy, and then silently berated myself for thinking that way. Legolas had probably volunteered to be the messenger, at least when it came to waking me up. The elf flushed a deep scarlet and avoided looking at any part of me except for my face. Confused, I looked down. I had a night dress on, and it went down to the floor. Why was he so embarrassed?

"You okay there, Legolas?" I asked. He looked over my head and regained most of his composure.

"I am fine. We will be leaving within the hour, so I would suggest that you and the other ladies dress warmly and bring your things to the hall." I started to nod, but then called him back. He lifted one perfect eyebrow, his usual signal for me to continue.

"Is, um, is Eomer here?" Legolas gave me a blank stare.

"Not yet. He shall be arriving shortly," he said slowly. I struggled to keep the excitement off my face. Legolas rolled his eyes and walked away, leaving me to conspire a way to get Eomer to myself. I asked Lisa and Kelly for help, but they just gave me a sad, pitying look and went to the hall to join everyone else. I grabbed my small pack and a thin piece of cloth to tie back my hair. As I entered the hall, I instantly zeroed in on him. Eowyn was clinging to his arm, a big grin plastered on her face, and he had a hand clasped on his uncle's shoulder, both men obviously torn between grief and joy. Surrounding the happy family were Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, Kelly and Lisa. I shyly walked up to my friends, who were now laughing and smiling. As Gandalf introduced each of them in turn, Eomer nodded his head in acknowledgment. Gandalf looked around, puzzled, until his eyes found me. He waved me over and as I stepped up, he grasped my shoulders and displayed me to Eomer.

"This is Lena."

"It is very good to meet you, my lord," I said. And then, I tried to curtsy. "Tried" is the key word here, because I tripped and would have fallen flat on my face if Gandalf still hadn't been holding to my shoulders. Eomer threw his head back, and laughed, a full, deep sound. He grasped my arm.

"Are you all right?" he asked me, more concerned now than amused.

"Yeah. Just really clumsy," I mumbled, refusing to look up from the floor. He laughed again. I quickly glanced up at him, noting how handsome he was.

"Then it would be safe to say that you will not be joining us in battle with the rest of your company?" I quickly lost all bashfulness and grinned at him.

"Consider yourself lucky." Eomer laughed again. "No, seriously. Tell them Legolas." The elf prince nodded darkly.

"Her aim is horrible, and her method of sword play is to swing at whatever moves. Thank the Valar that she will be in the caves, for we would surely be lost." I gave him a dirty look.

"Well gee, Legolas. Anything else you want to add in there?" He opened his mouth but quickly closed it, smiling sheepishly. The discussion turned to talk of battle and strategies, and Lisa, Kelly, and I quickly lost interest. Kelly pulled me closer.

"Dude. He is so much hotter than in the movies. But he's kind of greasy," she whispered in my ear. I rolled my eyes.

"Well duh," I whispered back, "He's only been chasing down Orcs these past few weeks!" I took the little piece of cloth I was still holding and pulled back my curly hair, blowing a few stray strands out of my face. That was when I saw Eowyn standing outside of the group, once again excluded from the conversations of war and such. She was looking quite bored so I decided to brighten up her day.

"Hey Eowyn. They gave me a sword, and since the men are all busy talking, would you teach me some of your moves?" She hesitated, and I silently cursed myself for letting Legolas volunteer his opinion. Finally she smiled and agreed. I excitedly pulled out the small sword that they had given me. Eowyn inspected it with a frown.

"It is not sharp. You cannot fight with a blunt blade." I grinned sheepishly.

"I don't think they actually expect me to do any fighting." She pushed a thick lock of golden hair over her shoulder and studied me with a quizzical expression on her face.

"But in your land, women are allowed to fight. Why would they not expect you to know sword play?" I laughed loudly, then quickly covered my mouth when I realized just how loud I was. The men glanced over our way, and Aragorn looked pained when he saw the sword in my hand. Eowyn laughed quietly, finally seeming to warm up to me. Then she looked at me very seriously.

"I am sorry. I have not been so kind to you." I smiled.

"It's all right. If that's your version of not being kind, then I can deal with it." Finally coming to an understanding, she picked up her sword and began to teach me how to block.

"You are quite small, so if an enemy were to attack you they would most likely bring the sword down on you from above, like this," she explained, raising the sword above my head and making a downward chopping motion. I flinched and jumped back. She sighed loudly, and I heard Kelly and Lisa laugh from where they were watching me.

"I'm sorry! Okay keep going." Eowyn continued to teach me how to block an attack from above and from waist level, and although I wasn't very good, I had a feeling that if I were attacked I would be able to put up a semi-decent fight. Finally we noticed people getting their bags together, letting us know that we were about to leave.

"Oh man! I really wanted to learn how to actually fight and attack people!" I cried in dismay. Eowyn laughed as I started to randomly swing the sword around, making kung fu sound effects. I spun around, holding my sword in the stance that Eowyn had used when attacking someone from waist level. There was a clang of metal on metal and the sword shook violently, making me screech loudly and drop the it. I heard Eowyn, Lisa, and Kelly laughing hysterically behind me and turned to face Aragorn , who was trying not to laugh as he sheathed his own sword and picked up mine. Legolas had his hands covering his ears and was looking at me rather rudely. I took my sword back from Aragorn and looked down at the floor.

"Sorry," I mumbled.

"You have to aim!" Eowyn cried with exasperation, while Legolas muttered something like "Told you" under his breath. "You look at what you are trying to attack and then you attack it!"

"But the spin looked so much cooler!" I whined. Eomer snorted.

"You will also take out half of our army if you continue to swing your sword around in such a fashion." I decided that I had had enough of sword fighting for that day and left to a loud burst of laughter behind my back. I spent the next ten minutes sulking by my bag of stuff and faked interest in a large tapestry when Lisa and Kelly tried to talk to me.

"Lena, come on," Lisa said.

"…"

"You have to talk to us sometime."

"…"

"Eomer is going to think you are a complete douche if he sees that you are ignoring us for such a stupid reason!"

"…"

"Fine then we'll just tell him ourselves."

"No don't do that!"

So until we left I ignored everyone that wasn't Kelly, Lisa, or Eowyn. I was forced to stop ignoring the others when I had to mount a horse. I begged them to let me ride with Aragorn or even Gandalf, but apparently Gandalf wasn't coming with us, and Aragorn decided that I had to learn how to ride a horse sooner or later, and it might as well be now. Lisa, the athletic one, leapt up onto the horse the way all skilled riders do. She grinned triumphantly and Kelly was led over to her horse. After coaxing him a bit, she was able to pull herself up. The horse struggled a bit, but she kept a tight grip and the horse easily relaxed once she was up. Then I met the demon horse.

"If you are afraid you will make her even more anxious," Aragorn scolded me. I stared open mouthed at him.

"I'm not afraid! I just don't know how to mount it when it keeps jumping around like that!" I yelled as the horse backed away from me. I took one step forward and the horse took one step back. I sighed and tapped my foot on the ground, then put on a pleasant smile.

"Here horsy! Come on, girl!" I cooed, stretching my hand out to it. The soft brown muzzle grazed my hand and sniffed for a moment. It immediately turned it's back on me and started to walk away. "Stupid horse!" I yelled, kicking a rock at it. This only startled it further and it reared up on it's hind legs. The soldier nearest to me ran over to take the reins and I ran screaming back to Aragorn. I found him deep in conversation with Eomer. He took one look at me panting and sweating and furrowed his brows.

"Where is your horse?" he asked me. I glared at him and tugged on my braid.

"That horse is evil! Can't I just ride with you or Lisa or someone?" I whined. He sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. A soldier appeared next to us and bowed deeply to us.

"My lords. Miss. I have orders that we are to be leaving within the next few minutes." Eomer smiled at the man and nodded.

"Very well. See to it that the lady's things are place and attached to the pack pony." I handed my things to the man and thanked him, and Aragorn waved me over to Lisa. With the combined efforts of the two, I finally managed to get onto the huge animal, and Lisa jumped on in front of me. The horse started moving and I felt myself bouncing up and down in the seat.

"My butt hurts," I complained, "I want our car back." Lisa snorted.

"Tell me about it," she muttered. "I could throw on a warm pair of sweats and we would have heat…." We both sighed longingly. Kelly pranced up alongside us, bouncing insanely in her seat.

"Hey-you-guys," she managed to get out between bounces. Lisa and I cracked up and Legolas turned to see what was wrong. He gave a small smile and shake of his head as he watched. Gimli, however, could not manage to control his laughter and laughed so hard that he startled Kelly, who immediately fell off of her horse. Lisa and I were laughing so hard at this point that we held onto the reigns for dear life unless we wanted to end up on our butts next to Kelly. She seemed a little disoriented, so a couple of guards helped her back onto the horse.

It was decided that the three of us should be separated if we wanted a short and safe journey. Kelly rode at the back, Lisa rode somewhere in the middle with Gimli behind her and Eowyn keeping them company, and I rode at the front with Legolas. This was great for me as I could : A) be closer to Eomer, B) talk to Eomer even more than I usually would, and C) had plenty of companions to play various games of my choosing with them. All three were a death sentence to anyone within the vicinity. Fortunately for Eomer, nothing I came up with in my head sounded even remotely interesting or intelligent to say, so to avoid embarrassing myself even further, I avoided A and B. Poor Legolas bore the brunt of my boredom.

"Hey Legolas I'm bored," I informed him imperiously. He ignored me and continued to converse with one of the palace guards. In an effort to get him to pay attention to me, I tugged on his braid. He still didn't turn around, but it gave me an idea…

Five minutes later, my work was complete. Legolas had been trying to hard to ignore me that he failed to notice that I had pulled his soft blonde hair into one long braid and was now decorating it with small flowers. The guard, whose name I learned was Morrigon, snorted, causing Legolas to turn and look at me. I shoved my hand full of flowers into my pocket before he could grab my wrist.

"What are you doing?" he demanded. I shrugged and gave him a doe eyed stare. "Nothing." He glared at me suspiciously, and then touched his hair. He turned pink and frantically clawed at the braid. The good news was that he managed to get all of the flowers out. The bad news was that since there was nothing holding his hair back, it swished softly back and forth and spilled over his shoulders, making him look even more like a girl from behind. Aragorn had turned around and was staring at Legolas, debating on whether to laugh at the elf or yell at me.

Putting on my best frowny face, I told Aragorn, "If you don't want Legolas to know about your man crush on him, you should really stop staring at him in such an inappropriate manner." Both men turned an unnatural shade of red.

"I'm not staring at him," Aragorn protested.

"Yes you were."

"No I wasn't!"

"Don't make me sing the song again!" Aragorn gave me a stricken glance and Legolas turned around, horrified. I leaned back, or tried to anyways, and let a self- satisfied smirk settle on my face. After a few moments, I got bored , so I started to braid a small piece of Legolas' hair. He instantly whipped his head around.

"Don't," he threatened. I pouted.

"I thought it looked pretty!" I exclaimed, and then added, "and so did Aragorn." Aragorn glared at me, once again interrupting his own conversation with Eomer.

"I did not!" I wagged a finger at the man, who could already tell what was coming.

"Now Aragorn! You aren't trying to say that Legolas looked ugly, are you?" The elf stiffened up, obviously reminding himself not to ride with me again. Aragorn was trapped between calling his best friend pretty, or calling his best friend ugly, neither of which were very appealing options. A muscle near his eye twitched violently.

"That wasn't what I meant," he replied. I rolled my eyes, and said in a tone that made it clear the conversation was over. "Oh. Of course."

"What did Gandalf tell you?" Legolas asked me. I refrained from crossing my arms because I knew if I let go I would fall off of the horse. Instead I settled for sighing impatiently into his back, "No teasing Aragorn about his man crush. Or yours," I added after a beat.

"It was close enough," Legolas said warningly when Aragorn began to argue. Eomer watched this whole exchange with a sense of both amusement, and, when Aragorn rode up next to him, a level of certain uncomforting.

Which I found highly entertaining. After a few more hours of alternating between torturing the guys for my own amusement and listening to them talk about war and stuff, we stopped for food. Kelly, Lisa and I all drank the horrible tasting soup as quickly as possible and assured Eowyn that it was the best broth we had ever tasted. I wished more than ever that Sam were here.

We wandered as far away from the group of people as we possibly could without getting the evil eye from one of the men, and basically sat around being goofy. I told Lisa and Kelly about harassing Legolas and Aragorn and we all laughed. And then we just sat there, watching everyone else get up and pack, ready to start moving on. I heard a small sniffle from Kelly. Shocked, Lisa and I turned to face her.

Not much ever gets through to that girl, so when she shows any emotion besides that blank happy stare is a cause for celebration. When I saw her, though, I felt horrible for being glad. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face was pale, and her bottom lip was trembling so hard I thought it might fall right off of her face.

"Kel! What's wrong?" I asked. She didn't answer at first, but finally gave up and burst into noisy sobs. Even at the distance we were from the rest of the people of Rohan and the remaining fellowship, I saw a blonde head swivel around to look in our direction. Lisa and I exchanged an alarmed glance and each put an arm around her.

"I want to go home!" she howled. "I don't care how many hot guys are here! I hate riding on that stupid horse because it makes my butt hurt! I hate wearing these itchy dresses! And I don't even know what Orcs are, but I know that I definitely don't want to fight them and I don't want to die!" There was complete silence except for Aragorn calling us back and Kelly's distressed sobs. We finally managed to soothe Kelly and lead her back to camp, promising that as soon we would be at the caves in Helm's deep where there would be no horses, no Orcs, and I would trade dresses with her since mine was made of cotton and her's was more wool. With that in mind, she got back up on her horse, and was allowed to ride next to Lisa, Gimli, and Eowyn.

Aragorn rode up next to me and Legolas leaned over to whisper, "Is she well?" I nodded my head and whispered back, "She kind of freaked. If you haven't noticed, Kelly, Lisa and I are in a little over our heads right now. She just isn't taking it very well." I could tell that he had trouble understanding some of what I said, but got the basic idea. We rode again for awhile, and stopped again at nightfall. We would all rest there for a few hours, and start again before the sun came up.

I was trying to find Lisa and Kelly, picking my way through bodies laying down to go to sleep or people just sitting around talking when I tripped and fell on one. "Shit!" Now I realized that I had said that, but the person under me had also said the same thing. I slowly got off whoever was under me and looked at a girl with long blonde hair, a round face, and small green eyes. At first we just stared at each other. And then I asked, "Who the hell are you?"

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Author's Note: Dun dun dun! Yes, a savvy little cliffhanger for you guys that haven't gotten fed up with my appalling lack of updates. Which I am sorry about by the way. School has been killing me, and I have three AP classes next semester and four other stories to work on, so updates are going to be coming more slowly than ever. Just a warning.


	6. Chapter 6

**I'm back! Please don't kill me! But really, I am so glad I've updated this after almost an entire year. It was really starting to bug me, and I was so inspired by all of my reviews and personal messages. I honestly never thought this story or the first one had made very much of an impression on people, but when I saw how many people still reviewed and sent me pm's telling me how much they missed my story, I got some serious warm, fuzzy feelings in my stomach. I love you all, and this chapter is dedicated to HeartsDivided. Even months after my story hadn't been updated, she kept rereading and sending me reviews and such. You are amazing!**

**So here is the long awaited sixth chapter. Send the reviews people and make it worthwhile!**

"Who the hell are you?"

The girl stared at me, unblinkingly. When she did talk, it sounded very odd. It was slightly clumsy, unlike the accent that everyone else seemed to have around here. Actually, I noticed that Lisa and Kelly seemed to talk like that sometimes, too. But on this girl it was much more pronounced, like she was doing it on purpose. She was slightly cautious and backed away from me warily. "You're speaking English? How do you know English? Are you one of us?" she fired at me. By this point I was utterly confused.

"What are you talking about? Of course I speak English. I don't know any other language. And what do you mean by 'one of us'?" Now it was her turn to look confused. She squinted at me, as if trying to figure out whether I was kidding or not.

"Well, yeah. You are now. But you've been speaking the Common Tongue ever since you got here. I just assumed you were some oddball they picked up along the way."

I glared at her as she flipped her blond hair over her shoulder and glowered condescendingly. Instead of answering, I grabbed the person nearest to me and asked, "What language am I speaking?" The woman that I had grabbed cast me a panicked glance and tugged on the arm of the little girl she was holding. I asked the same question to at least four more people, but instead of answering they all gave me the same annoyed looks. I turned back to the girl, very alarmed. She was watching me with a bored expression on her pale, round face.

"Too bad. I know it's confusing. It's always easier to switch from Westron to English when you don't know you're doing it. It took me awhile to learn. What about you?" I stomped my foot and threw my arms out.

"What about me?" I demanded. "I don't know what you are talking about!" I could feel the famous temper rising. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, relax. Didn't mean to get you all fired up." I clenched and unclenched my fists slowly.

Glaring at the girl, I snapped, "Oh, I'm sorry. You are only the first native I've met that uses American slang. Why should I be surprised?"

The girl snorted. "Trust me, you wouldn't believe how many of us there are. People from our world, that is, who have been stuck here." My mouth dropped open.

"There are more of us?" I asked incredulously. The girl nodded seriously.

"I'm Luthien," she said, holding out her hand. I raised my eyebrows but took her hand anyway. She sighed deeply.

"Okay, my name is Betty Anne. But if you say anything you're dead." I tried to stop snickering behind my free hand. I got myself under control and introduced myself.

"Okay, Lena. What's _your _real name?" I grinned at her.

"I had semi-normal parents. That is my real name." She scowled at me and took a seat on a large rock a little away from the rest of the group, so we wouldn't be overheard. Kelly and Lisa stood up and stared at me, and I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"Wow, total Sue moment. You had a weird name to begin with?" It was my turn to glare at her. She laughed. "Next thing you know, you'll be riding into battle alongside Eowyn and saving Middle Earth." She looked at me suspiciously. "If that happens, I will kill you, and then myself. I'd rather have Sauron running this world than a Sue."

This girl was completely insane. I wasn't following a thing she said, mostly concentrating on trying to figure out what a Sue was. "Sue?" I repeated.

She inspected her nails. "Yeah. Usually a real life teenage girl falling into some movie or book and stealing all the limelight from regular characters by being perfect. It's annoying. I met a really bad one, once. Seriously, it was terrible. She had pink sparkly hair and called herself Rainbow Elf." I winced at the image. "Yeah, I wanted to slit my wrists."

I thought about this for a moment. "But I'm not perfect."

"Can you fight?" I laughed so hard that when I tried to take a step forward I fell and scraped my elbow against the same rock she was sitting on. I moaned and cradled my elbow in my left hand, and then looked up at Luthien. She was smirking at me and my throbbing elbow. "Guess not."

"What else?" I demanded, sitting cross-legged on the ground. She tapped her chin.

"Magical powers?"

"Nada."

"Any relation to one of the main characters?"

"As if something would happen to me to make my life a little easier." Luthien and I sat in silence for a little bit.

"Okay, so far the only indicators you have are that you are pretty, you have a weird name and a bad temper. Now here is the big question-"

I felt two large objects hit the ground on either side of me. I screamed out of confusion, and then screamed again just for the hell of it when I saw Kelly and Lisa.

Kelly threw her arms around my neck and squeezed. "We're saving you!" she wailed. Luthien's upper lip curled slightly and she stared at the hysterical Kelly in confusion.

I gasped for air and pried at Kelly's hands. "Can't…breathe…Kel!" Kelly dropped her arms and grinned.

"Oh! Kidding." I leaned over on my hands and knees and took deep gulps of air.

Lisa pounded on my back. "Walk it off," she commanded.

Luthien started laughing hysterically. "God, the guard from the marketplace wasn't lying when he said you three were completely insane." My friends and I glared at her. At first I pouted, and then I remembered her question.

"Oh, wait! What was the big question?" Luthien looked at me skeptically.

"Forget it. There is no way in hell that your answer would be a yes." Even though I didn't know the question, I was still offended.

"Well, what is it?" I demanded.

Luthien took a deep breathe. "Are any of the canon characters…well…I mean…" her question trailed off into snorts of laughter. I glared at her even harder. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "I'm trying…in love…with you?" she finished, still unable to contain her giggles.

The look I shot her was pure evil. "Hey you stupid whore! Why is that funny?" Luthien managed to hold back her laughter.

"Listen to yourself. I mean, if they could seriously understand the way you talk before, there is no way you would have a chance with any decent guy in Middle Earth."

I was so insulted by her remark that I let Kelly burst out with, "Legolas!" I shot up and looked around.

"Where?" I demanded. I was pretty sure the elf and I had tired of each other for the day. I had been annoying him more the past week than I had in the six months that I had been part of the fellowship. This was because I was bored and it ensured that all of his romantic feelings towards me would completely evaporate.

Lisa sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, stupid. She is saying that Legolas is in love with you." In the distance, I saw him turn to watch our group.

"Damn," I growled, "He heard his name. Okay, our new code name for him is Snuffles."

Kelly glared. "Rip off Harry Potter, much!"

I held up my hand. "Whatevs. Point being, he is not in love with me. Snuffles is having a momentary lapse in judgment and will regain his common sense soon enough." My attention was drawn to Luthien, who had her mouth hanging open and was wordlessly pointing at me.

"Legolas?"

"Um…yes?"

"Prince Legolas? That you have been tagging along after for the past three days?" I stamped my foot and pouted.

"What is this? He annoys me for like six months and nobody says anything to him. I try to entertain myself by bugging him for one day and everybody jumps on my back! I have not been tagging along! I was forced to go on this stupid quest and forced to return to this stupid world! No tagging! At all!"

There was only silence. Kelly and Lisa were looking at me like a crazy person and Luthien's incredulous expression hadn't changed. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at them all. Why did everybody keep looking at me like this?

"Sue!" Luthien snapped at me. I spread my arms out in front of me and stamped my foot again.

"Oh, come on! They are totally lying! The elf is completely crazy! How does that make me a Sue?"

Luthien snorted. "Oh, please. Having a canon character fall in love with you, especially someone as typical as L-" I held up and finger and jerked my head in the direction of the townspeople. She gave me her signature eye roll. "Sorry. As typical as Snuffles, is a huge Sue indicator. You are so screwed if you meet someone else from our world. Seriously, watch your back if anyone else finds out."

I glared at her and then sat back down on the ground. "Stupid Snuffles. He ruins everything!" I whined. She raised her eyebrows.

"Are you really saying that having an elf prince be in love with you is a bad thing?"

I glared at her. "Um, duh! We never annoyed each other like this when we barely knew each other. Then it was the whole always escorting me, giving me puppy dog looks that I never even knew a straight guy was capable of when I wasn't he thought I wasn't looking. And don't even get me stared on how freaking sensitive he is! I swear! I had to watch everything I said or I got yelled at by stupid Aragorn."

More silence. "Wow," Luthien mumbled, "It's that bad?"

I shrugged. "No, not really. I've just been holding in a lot of bad feelings and needed something to bitch about. He is a cool guy, but I refuse to date somebody a few thousand years older than me."

"Awkward," Lisa sang. I nodded seriously

"Tell me about it." Kelly turned to Luthien.

"Okay. So if Lena is a Sue, what does that make you?" At this the girl seemed confused. The crickets chirped and I could hear someone calling my name. My friends and I stared at Luthien until she hesitantly answered us.

"I don't know," she said softly. And then she straightened up indignantly. "But I know that I'm happy here. I've got friends, and I'm engaged, and I'm much more appreciated here than in our old world. So you guys can freak out about this all you want, but I won't help you find a way back or anything."

Lisa ran a hand through her hair and took a few deep, calming breaths. "Now, we have to figure out something. So you're sure we can't understand the language anymore?" Luthien shook her head.

"No. Not now that you know the difference between English and Westron. You'll have to learn it again." We all stared at her expectantly. She snorted and assumed her cocky demeanor from earlier. "Don't look at me like that. You're on your own." I stamped my foot, wondering why she was acting so snobby, and then it dawned on me. Her attitude, the look, her knowledge of "Sues", all suddenly made sense. I think it hit Lisa before it hit me. We both narrowed our eyes at her and stepped closer. Instantly, she backed away from us, panicking, until we had cornered her against the rock.

"You know how to get back there! You know exactly how to get back and you won't tell us. You want us to be trapped in this hell!" Lisa yelled at her.

"I haven't showered in a week! Maybe you're too much of a freak to relate, but I look and feel disgusting!" I also yelled.

By this point, Legolas, Aragorn, and a few guards had heard our screaming and made their way over to us. Legolas put a concerned hand on my shoulder and asked me something in a strange language, what I was assuming was Westron. I could only guess because it didn't have the musical quality of Elvish speech. His sharp blue eyes took in my frenzied appearance and Luthien leaning against the rock looking cool and poised, and he repeated himself. I had no idea what he was saying and settled for blankly staring at him. I shivered and he draped a cloak around my shoulders.

There was a shuffle of feet behind me and a cough that sounded oddly like "Sue." Point being, I snapped.

Now I swear, I didn't intend on attacking Luthien. But the opportunity was there, I was mad, she was making everything worse, and I really wanted to hit something. So without a second thought, I let out an enraged scream and leapt at Luthien. I heard Lisa and Kelly cheering me on, and strong hands roughly pulling me away. Luthien and I had fists locked on each other's hair and squealed pathetically with each tug.

It was a very sad sight, not only because of our Middle Earth clothing, but also because of the sight of us rolling around on the ground, pulling at each other's hair and shrieking. Honestly, it looked ridiculous, as I was told later by Gimli, who found it all very amusing.

Legolas pried my hands off of Luthien's blonde hair and Aragorn had pinned both of Luthien's arms behind her back after she tried to scratch me. "Ha! Your boyfriend can't be around forever!" she yelled triumphantly.

I snarled at her wordlessly, which seemed to intimidate her at least a little bit. If only the people around here found me half as scary as she did. Unfortunately, as I found out when I scanned Legolas' waistline , he didn't have any weapons within my reach, or at least not where I was prepared to go digging around for them. He started lecturing me in the foreign language, his hair flying every which way with each gesture. It got to the point where I was so bored I tuned him out altogether and thought about what he used to keep his hair so smooth and shiny. But just as I felt myself starting to fall asleep standing up, a girlish voice from behind me responded. Kelly was smiling brightly at him. Lisa, Luthien and I looked at her in shock.

She gave us a confused look. "What?"

"……."

"Seriously, what?" I cautiously stoop down and picked up a rock, which I threw at Kelly. It hit her in the head with a loud _thunk_.

She rubbed her head and her eyes started to water. "What was that for?" she demanded. I glared at her.

"You can understand them?" She brightened and nodded eagerly. "Yeah. It's really not as hard as you think it is." I glanced at her quizzically and then walked up to Legolas and Aragorn.

"Apparently, I'm a Mary Sue and I can't speak Westron anymore." They both tilted their heads to the side and stared at me, trying to decipher what I was saying. "You really can't understand me?" They both shrugged and looked at Kelly for an explanation. I pointed at Legolas and Aragorn respectively and said, "You are a pansy and you are a jerk because I still have that bruise you gave me from the table earlier." Kelly opened her mouth to translate, but I shushed on her. I decided I would let that sit with them for a while, because it would drive them insane not knowing what I had said.

"He said he wanted to know if anything you just said had to do with flowers," she told me after Legolas whispered something to her. I looked at him for a minute, and then face-palmed myself. Of course, it figures that of all words that would be the same in English and Westron, pansy would be the one. I shook my head sadly and told Kelly not to explain. "Just let them know what's going on." She nodded and started explaining the whole situation to Aragorn and Legolas.

Legolas narrowed his eyes at me and asked me something. I shrugged and turned to Kelly. "He said 'Pansy doesn't mean flower, does it?'" I grinned and shook my head. Lisa smirked next to me, but quickly put on a mask of confusion when Legolas turned to look her way. Aragorn, probably knowing what was coming, stepped between us both and pointed a finger at me. He growled something quietly at me, and I flinched.

"Did he just threaten me?" I demanded from Kelly. "I think you should let him know that that is illegal in most places." Kelly, who had been staring at the merchant's son while I had been talking, quickly snapped back to attention and translated. Aragorn opened his mouth to retaliate angrily, but was silenced by Lisa.

"Okay for five seconds let's stop acting like two-year-olds and figure out the situation," she shouted at Aragorn and I. We both looked at the ground and shrugged. "Good. Obviously, the fact that we can't understand each other puts a dent in our whole adventure. But we've got Kelly to translate, so that makes things a little easier. What I want to focus on right now is that she," Lisa pointed a finger accusingly at Luthien, "knows how to get back to our world, and won't tell us how." Kelly translated this to the men, who all turned to stare at Luthien.

Aragorn spoke quickly to Luthien , who snapped at him angrily. She was doing a good job of trying to stare him down, and seemed to be pretty focused on it, so I threw a rock at her. It missed. Gimli laughed and sat down on the rock Luthien had gotten up from just as everyone glared at me. I quickly pointed at Gimli, who raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Everybody still continued glaring at me.

"Sorry," I muttered, sitting down next to Gimli. The dwarf continued laughing at me. Legolas and Aragorn started interrogating Luthien, and it got boring not understanding what they were saying, so I started talking to Lisa.

"What do we do now?" I moaned. Gimli patted me on the shoulder and said something in response. I took a wild guess that he was trying to comfort me but I didn't want him to know how badly he was failing, so I gave him a small smile.

Lisa sighed and poked at the ground with a stick she found. "I don't know," she whispered. She looked at me with sad blue eyes. "What if we can't get back this time? After all, it doesn't look like Luthien is giving up any important information."

It was true. Legolas and Aragorn seemed like they were putting all of their efforts into coaxing a solution out of her, but for all the reaction they got out of her, hey could have been talking to a brick wall. She stared over their shoulders, already looking tired of the conversation. Aragorn's eye was doing the twitchy thing that always happens when he is losing his patience and Legolas' lips were pursed into a thin line.

Lisa was still waiting for an answer. "I don't know," I answered honestly. She put her face in her hands, thick red hair falling forward. "I wish Elrond had never sent me on this stupid journey. I could be in Imladris, staying in that nice, cozy castle, with people to talk to and nothing to worry about. That's what they want to do with me, you know." Lisa gave me a startled look. "What?"

I nodded sadly. "If I can't find a way back, I'm being sent back to Elrond (after I have helped destroy the ring, of course). That's another reason I can't be with Legolas. I'm not allowed. I won't ever be allowed to leave Rivendell after the war is over, unless it was to return to our world." Lisa stared at me.

"How do you know that?" she asked. I repeated for her what Aragorn had told me when I had last been in Middle Earth. Kelly wandered over and looked between the two of us.

"What's going on?" she asked. I shook my head.

"It will happen to you guys, too. We won't be allowed to have what Luthien has."

"What's going to happen to us?" she shrieked. I started to tell her, until I realized how she had said it. She had the accent back.

_Crap, _I thought. I grimaced and tried to shush Kelly, but it was too late. Aragorn said something to Luthien and she walked away in a huff, and then he and Legolas came back our way. Aragorn asked Gimli something, but he just looked in our direction and shrugged

"_Mani marte?" _Legolas demanded, looking at me. I practically felt the light bulb go off in my head and I snapped my fingers excitedly.

"Oh! I know this one!" I exclaimed. Aragorn rolled his eyes and Legolas gave me his usual "be serious" face. "Um…I'm fine. How are you?" Kelly translated and he looked like he wanted to face palm himself, then said something to me in Westron.

"He says that you are thinking of a completely different question." I thought even harder and for one second suggested a rousing game of charades, but finally decided that Legolas and Aragorn probably wouldn't appreciate it.

"Okay, well they ran over here after hearing you scream like a fucking banshee, Kelly, so they probably want to know what was going on. Um, tell them everything is fine and I don't care if they don't believe me, because I still won't tell them what happened."

Kelly translated, and before she had even finished, Aragorn looked like he wanted to kill me. I shrank back with a squeak.

"He wants to know why not." I puffed my chest out indignantly. "Tell him that it isn't something he needs to know. You just caught the wrong end of our conversation." Both Kelly and Aragorn looked at me skeptically, but both knew that I wouldn't change my mind. Aragorn continued glaring at me. "Fine. Kelly, tell him that I accidentally let the post war plans slip."

Aragorn and Legolas looked confused at first, until they took in Lisa's enraged scowl. Finally, Aragorn nodded with understanding. He said something to Legolas in Elvish, causing the blonde to wince and look at us all apologetically. I tried to avoid looking him directly in the eye, but it failed. I saw the flicker of pain there, and it made me feel horrible. I wasn't really sure why, considering I had no say whatsoever in this plan, but the guilt was there all the same. I ignored the nudge from Gimli, who had most likely just seen the exchange. Aragorn bowed his head, looking like he wanted nothing more than to crawl under the rock Gimli and I were sitting on and just stay there.

The awkward silence filled the night air, until Kelly made a suggestion. Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli all nodded their agreement, and Kelly told us that she thought it would be best to continue the conversation in the morning. Our group trekked back down to the rest of the group. Eomer and a few guards glanced our way, and the guys went to go meet him. I threw a dirty look in Luthien's direction before settling down with Lisa and Kelly near the men, but still far enough so that their talking wouldn't keep us awake.

I promised myself that until this whole quest was over, I was so calling that girl Betty Anne every chance I got.

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_Mani mart?- _What happened?


	7. Chapter 7

_**Yay for reviews! Please keep them coming you guys. So, I hope everyone is liking this whole new plot twist. I read it in some other story on here like a year ago and it kind of stuck with me. I thought maybe it added a little more reality to the story. And if you are the person I borrowed this idea from, I AM VERY SORRY FOR NOT GIVING YOU CREDIT BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE TITLE OF YOUR STORY. So that is my little disclaimer. That and the fact I do not own Lord of the Rings. Continue reading, guys! **_

"_It's not fair," Lisa snapped for what seemed like the tenth time. I rolled my eyes. _

"_Look, it's not that bad-" _

_Lisa cut me off. "Off course it's that bad! We either die or we're prisoners to the stupid elves! How is it not that bad?" _

_I flicked a small pebble across the ground, accidentally hitting one of the guards in the back. He turned to look at me, but I quickly pretended to be asleep. "Gee," I mumbled, eyes still closed, "Being held prisoner in a huge castle with lots of hot elves. Damn you, Elrond." _

_I felt Lisa's eyes burning a hole in my back. "Oh, you're funny. You're absolutely hysterical." _

"_You know, I try. I really do." Kelly giggled behind me. When I told her what Lisa and I were talking about, she hadn't seemed too worried. But then again, I hadn't thought she would. Kelly liked being pampered and taken care of, even if she did miss home. _

_Lisa was a different story entirely. She hated people fussing over her. And she hated it more when they tried to tell her what to do. So naturally, she was even more set against the idea of going back to Rivendell than ever. _

_I rolled over onto my other side to see my friends. "Really now, Lisa," Kelly lectured, "And what else are you going to do after this is over and there is no way to get back?" _

_Lisa's voice came out hard and steely. "There is a way to get back, you idiot. We just haven't found it yet. I will get back home, with or without the help of 'Miss Attitude' over there. Ow!" she screeched. I realized Kelly had just kicked her in the shoulder. _

"_Don't get snappy with me," Kelly hissed. Lisa stood up and stepped so close to Kelly that the red-head was almost towering over her. I saw Aragorn stand up, ready to break up another fight, but jumped up before he could intervene. _

"_Okay, cool it, you two! Now is not the time or place." I made sure to keep my tone low and even so we wouldn't wake up anyone else. My best friends stuck their tongues out at each other, and stalked off in opposite directions, leaving me by myself. I sighed dejectedly and went to go join the guys again. "Stupid friends," I muttered, plopping down next to Gimli. The dwarf smiled at me in greeting, but I just frowned and sighed deeply, jerking my head in the directions of Kelly and Lisa. He just shrugged as if to say __what can ya do?_

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"Are we positive that she can not understand what we are saying?" Legolas murmured to the man next to him. Eomer glanced at the girl. She was definitely watching their every move, almost as if she knew they were talking about her. 

"I think so," he said slowly, still locking onto Lady Lena's dark gaze. She glowered between all of them, her tiny upturned nose scrunched with concentration. Aragorn shook his head slowly. 

"It is almost scary how she automatically knows we are talking about her." The men had all been making a sincere effort not to glance once in her direction, but soon gave up when they saw her watching. The glare she gave was almost accusing. 

Legolas sighed. "Because she loathes when we do not tell her our plans." Aragorn's voice was laced with the same guilt. 

"Yes, well. If she knew then she would not go. At least before, we did not have a language barrier. As it is, this just makes her being here even more dangerous. And we can not subject her innocent friends t o a quest they had no part in, and could possibly die in." Gimli stroked his beard and sighed. Red blonde curls bounced as Lena turned in outrage to Gimli. She had not known he was part of their conversation. 

Gimli tried to shift away from her. "So that is it? The lasses go back to Rivendell?" Although this was meant for the whole company, everyone turned to watch Legolas, including Lena. 

The elf's head was bowed, his face in his hands. "Please, Estel," he groaned, "Please make the decision. You know I can not." Aragorn didn't say anything. "She is still looking at me?" Again, Aragorn made no answer. He didn't need to. Anybody could have felt the fear, anger and betrayal being directed at Legolas. 

_And she does not even understand why, _he mused. 

"_Detholalle," _he whispered, getting impatient. Legolas finally uncovered his face. 

Eomer did not think Elves aged. Of course, they got older. Eomer knew that. But he always thought of Elves as always youthful, always radiant. At the moment, the Prince Legolas looked none of those things. Eomer had heard it said that the Prince was well over a thousand years old, maybe even closer to two thousand. Eomer could certainly believe it now. Lines suddenly creased the smooth pale skin, and his eyes were dim. 

_So he cares for the girl, _Eomer realized. He was surprised. The two annoyed each other half to death. It was a miracle that they both had lasted the day. Also, the girl was little more than a child, not yet fit to be courted, much less by someone of the Prince's stature. It was an odd match, indeed. 

And yet, he felt that he should have seen it before. Lady Lena smirked, and then purposely strode away into the darkness. She wasn't far enough away that Eomer couldn't see the glint of her hair. Her head whipped around frantically, searching for something. 

"What in the world…" he muttered. Finally, they all heard her shriek. She came bounding back into the small circle of friends, dragging with her the other little blonde girl. Lady Lena's face was triumphant. Legolas shook his head firmly. 

"Go away," he commanded, "You will know in the morning." Morning. That is when they would be sending the girls back to Rivendell, along with two of the best guards that his uncle could spare. Eomer raised an eyebrow. None of the young ladies would appreciate this. 

Lady Lena's friend translated this. Her face flushed bright red, the fury carved into her features. She almost looked intimidating. Kicking a patch of dirt angrily in Legolas' direction, she yelled something at him and pointed at her friend. Legolas barely glanced at her, keeping his eyes trained on the friend. 

"Kelly, tell Lena that we are not telling any of you anything. This is none of your concern." Lady Kelly frowned and tapped her chin. Her blue eyes were narrowed at the group before her, as if trying to decipher what this might mean for them. 

Slowly, she shook her head. "I think you should let us know what's going on." The men all looked at each other uneasily. They had counted on Lady Kelly to be the most easily led astray, but her face was now lit with curiosity. There was no getting rid of either one of them, and even Eomer knew that if the other girl were to appear this would become more of a problem. Finally, Aragorn raised a finger and shook it at Lady Kelly. 

"Kelly, we are entrusting you with this information. Do not let it slip to neither Lena nor Lisa." He shuddered visibly. "Especially not Lisa." The girl bounced up and down and clapped excitedly. 

She grinned at the entire company. "Okay, what is it?" she demanded, ignoring Lady Lena's attempts to make her translate. She took Lady Lena's former seat next to Gimli, leaving the girl to look on with shock that nobody would talk to her. 

Aragorn sighed. "You leave in the morning. Each of you will get a horse and a guard to lead you back to Rivendell, where you will stay until I can return for you." Lady Kelly beamed and tossed back her blonde hair, the firelight turning it nearly white. 

"So we get to go back to a palace with beds and warm clothes and food that doesn't suck?" Eomer cleared his throat and glared. She shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry. I know she is your sister and she is trying very hard, but she makes a better warrior than a cook." Eomer laughed. 

"She makes a better warrior than anything she does or could do," he agreed. He liked Lady Kelly. She was a kind girl, and the three companions spoke quite highly of her. She treated all of his people with warmth and respect. 

Gimli started. "Maybe Lena should stay. After all, her knowledge of the battle would be quite useful." Kelly raised her hand slightly. 

"Look you guys. I am not trying to put Lena down or anything. I am not saying she wouldn't help you guys out a lot. But fact of the matter is, she hasn't read the books in years, and the movies are not very reliable, which is basically most of what she remembers." Legolas glanced over at Lena, who was sulking some feet away from the group, sending them all a withering look. 

"You are saying that her information might be confused?" Lady Kelly remained silent, staring into the flames of the small fire, conflicted as to how to answer the question. 

Finally, "I'm saying you guys don't need to rely on her knowledge of all of this as much as you would think." 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Funny. I didn't remember falling asleep. I just remember glaring at Legolas and… 

"Hey!" I shrieked, jumping to my feet and looking around for someone to yell at. Of course, I managed to find Legolas first, who was loading bags on to a large brown horse with white spots on it's flank. "You!" I poked him hard in the shoulder. He turned and stared blankly at me. I frowned and shook my head. 

"Don't give me that look! Why were you talking about me last night?" I demanded. I just raised his eyebrows and continued tying the stuff to the horse. "Why are you putting my stuff on there? Why isn't it on the pack mule?" I asked in confusion. It was true. My bags from the car were on there, and my pillow and blanket. Kelly and Lisa were also gathering their possessions some feet away, Lisa looking very put out about something. "What's going on?" I asked in a small voice. 

I was so utterly confused. When Legolas wouldn't answer me, dashed over to Kelly, knocking over four people in the process. I finally reached both of my friends, holding my bruising elbow and panting heavily. 

"What's going on?" I asked. Kelly started to answer, but Lisa cut her off. 

"Your stupid friends are sending us to Rivendell." She gave an exasperated sigh when I didn't react. "Like, today. In about twenty minutes."

At first I was in complete shock. And then I could feel the tears starting. I hated getting mad. I always cried when I got really mad. 

How dare they! Did they all really think they could send me on this quest, and then just take me out when I actually began to care about fighting for Middle Earth and being with my friends! Just when I was reunited with the guys, they were going to tell me I had to leave again? Before the tears could fall, I grabbed Kelly's arm. 

"Where are we going?" she shrieked as I began to drag her across the field. I ignored the question. 

"Who did it? Who gave the orders to take us back?" I yelled at her, turning to see her face. She flushed scarlet and mumbled something under her breath. I stopped and let go of her arm. "Excuse you?" 

"Oh, well. Look at that view. This is such a beautiful area, you know." 

"Kelly!" 

"All right, fine! Just, don't be mad at him, okay?" I glared at her and took a menacing step forward. 

"Mad at who?" I growled. Before she could stop herself, Kelly's gaze flickered to something off to her right. I turned to see Legolas, making his way over to Aragorn. I turned back to Kelly, whose eyes were as wide as quarters now. 

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Now, Lena. Don't do anything rash. Just listen to me for a second!" I tuned her out as I grabbed her arm again and marched up to Legolas. His icy blue eyes were filled with guilt when he saw the look on my face. 

"I'm not going, and you cant make me," I stated. Kelly translated. Legolas looked like he wished he were talking to anybody but me at the moment. He made a short reply. 

"He says that you either go, or you will be stranded here in the middle of Rohirrim territory with nothing but the clothes on your back." My mouth dropped open. 

"You wouldn't!" 

"He would." 

Legolas and I stared stubbornly at each other, until Lisa rode up next to us on the demon horse from the day before, seat behind a younger guard that I remembered seeing during Theoden's semi-exorcism. He said something, and then gestured to both something behind him. I turned to see two more horses behind him, each with a guard already seated on it. I recognized the brown one with my luggage on it. 

Panic suddenly seized me when Kelly jumped up onto the third horse, with the help of her guard. "Come one, Lena," Lisa yelled, obviously irritated. I grabbed Legolas' arm and tried to make him look at me. 

"Okay, please, I promise," I begged, "I will never annoy you again! I wont even look in your direction if that's what you want! Please, just don't send me away!" Kelly hesitated, then quietly translated all of this to the rest of the company. I couldn't even hear it though. I focused solely on Legolas. His gaze locked on mine, and I momentarily wondered why I had forgotten his eyes were so beautiful. He looked so sad, so resigned, and I knew that there was no way he would change his mind. They were all set on us going back to Rivendell, and nothing was going to stop them from achieving this. Sniffling slightly, I backed away from him and ran to Aragorn. I hugged him as hard as I could, and felt him kiss me on the forehead. 

"I'll tell Arwen you said hello, and that you miss her, because I know you do." Behind me, Kelly translated. I tried my best to return his smile, then bent to hug Gimli.

The dwarf's bushy beard scratched against my cheek and he mumbled something. "He said he's going to miss you," Kelly said. Gimli sighed sadly and patted my hand. I grinned at him.

"It's your job to keep an eye on these guys for me, okay?" I joked, pointing to Aragorn and Legolas, "Make sure they aren't getting too frisky." Kelly burst out laughing and translated to Gimli. He chuckled and his blue eyes shone. The guys glared at me, but I pretended not to see. Eomer started to kiss my hand when I turned to him, but I snatched my hand away and wrapped my arms around his neck in a bear hug. I whispered a quick thank you, which he returned.

The last person to say good bye to was Legolas. I fidgeted slightly, unable to actually look him in the eye, because I didn't know whether to tell him to suck it for making me leave, or to cry. I felt the full weight of everyone's eyes on us, and I attempted to laugh nervously. God, this was awkward! I had no idea what to say.

"So," I began, "You pretty much suck, you know? And you are a total asshole, because if you would have stood up for me then I wouldn't be leaving." Kelly paused.

"That's what you wanted me to tell him?" I turned to look at her. She had both hands on her hips, and even Lisa looked a little angry. I stuck my tongue out at her. 

"I'm not done, okay? I'm not good at dramatic speeches. So just say it!" Kelly rolled her eyes and repeated it to Legolas. His cheeks turned red and he started to walk away, but I put a hand on his shoulder, which was not an easy feat considering how tall he was. He looked at me and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for me to continue. I shuffled my feet slowly.

"But the thing is, you're my asshole. And I'm going to miss you so freaking much, it's not even funny. Please just hurry to get this whole quest over with and come back to Rivendell, because I will be going crazy without you there. And I know I drive you up the wall, but just remember that one of us will be counting the days until all of this is over. Got it?"

Kelly had been translating as I was talking, and by this point, Legolas looked somewhere between offended and completely surprised. I couldn't hear anything other than the sounds of people getting up and getting ready to start moving again. 

"Dude," Lisa yelled, "Say something! She's leaving in like two seconds!" Legolas glared at her and yelled something back.

"He says he's working on it!" Kelly yelled back. Legolas shuffled his feet slightly, and then winced as if someone had pinched him. He tilted his chin and pulled back his shoulders. Without saying a word, he bowed, kissed my hand, and then walked away. Everyone stared at his retreating back, and my mouth dropped open.

"What the fuck?" I screeched, spinning around to look at my friends, who were just as shocked as I was. "No way. That is not it. He will say goodbye the right way even if it kills him!" I stomped off after him. He hadn't gotten very far, so I didn't have to rush to keep up with him. Before I said anything, he turned to face me.

"Give me a fucking hug!" I demanded. He raised one eyebrow and I smacked him in the chest. "I said give me a hug!" He still didn't answer, so I held out my arms, hoping that he would get the hint. 

According to Kelly, what Legolas did next cause Lisa to fall off of her horse, dragging her guard down with her. Instead of giving me the hug that I waited her, he grabbed both of his arms and pressed his lips against mine. Surprisingly, it felt nice. I heard the gasps behind me, but they didn't even register until after he broke away from me. With one last smile, he walked away. My lips still tingled and I didn't know what to do. The elf was lost in the crowd of bustling people.

Feeling completely numb, I slowly walked back to the horses. Gimli was almost rolling in laughter, pointing at Lisa who was now on the ground in a very awkward position with her guard. Eomer's eyes were almost bugging out of his head, and Kelly seemed almost as dazed as I felt. Aragorn was the only semi-calm one, and even he didn't seem to believe what he had just seen. 

There was a very awkward silence before I finally cleared my throat and said, "Uh. So…did anyone else see that?" Kelly just nodded mutely. "Well, okay then. So I guess we are leaving now?" At first, nobody moved. And then our group slowly started getting ready again. I was helped onto a horse, and we all waved goodbye to each other. I looked at Gimli and Aragorn and Eomer, and I felt a lump in my throat. I knew that I would see them all again eventually, but I was just going to miss them all so much. 

As we rode away, I looked around, kind of desperate for a last look at Legolas. I caught a little glimpse of him, standing with Aragorn, but he never turned around. 


	8. To All of my Readers

**I'm back! Please don't kill me! But really, I am so glad I've updated this after almost an entire year. It was really starting to bug me, and I was so inspired by all of my reviews and personal messages. I honestly never thought this story or the first one had made very much of an impression on people, but when I saw how many people still reviewed and sent me pm's telling me how much they missed my story, I got some serious warm, fuzzy feelings in my stomach. I love you all, and this chapter is dedicated to HeartsDivided. Even months after my story hadn't been updated, she kept rereading and sending me reviews and such. You are amazing!**

**So here is the long awaited sixth chapter. Send the reviews people and make it worthwhile!**

"Who the hell are you?"

The girl stared at me, unblinkingly. When she did talk, it sounded very odd. It was slightly clumsy, unlike the accent that everyone else seemed to have around here. Actually, I noticed that Lisa and Kelly seemed to talk like that sometimes, too. But on this girl it was much more pronounced, like she was doing it on purpose. She was slightly cautious and backed away from me warily. "You're speaking English? How do you know English? Are you one of us?" she fired at me. By this point I was utterly confused.

"What are you talking about? Of course I speak English. I don't know any other language. And what do you mean by 'one of us'?" Now it was her turn to look confused. She squinted at me, as if trying to figure out whether I was kidding or not.

"Well, yeah. You are now. But you've been speaking the Common Tongue ever since you got here. I just assumed you were some oddball they picked up along the way."

I glared at her as she flipped her blond hair over her shoulder and glowered condescendingly. Instead of answering, I grabbed the person nearest to me and asked, "What language am I speaking?" The woman that I had grabbed cast me a panicked glance and tugged on the arm of the little girl she was holding. I asked the same question to at least four more people, but instead of answering they all gave me the same annoyed looks. I turned back to the girl, very alarmed. She was watching me with a bored expression on her pale, round face.

"Too bad. I know it's confusing. It's always easier to switch from Westron to English when you don't know you're doing it. It took me awhile to learn. What about you?" I stomped my foot and threw my arms out.

"What about me?" I demanded. "I don't know what you are talking about!" I could feel the famous temper rising. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, relax. Didn't mean to get you all fired up." I clenched and unclenched my fists slowly.

Glaring at the girl, I snapped, "Oh, I'm sorry. You are only the first native I've met that uses American slang. Why should I be surprised?"

The girl snorted. "Trust me, you wouldn't believe how many of us there are. People from our world, that is, who have been stuck here." My mouth dropped open.

"There are more of us?" I asked incredulously. The girl nodded seriously.

"I'm Luthien," she said, holding out her hand. I raised my eyebrows but took her hand anyway. She sighed deeply.

"Okay, my name is Betty Anne. But if you say anything you're dead." I tried to stop snickering behind my free hand. I got myself under control and introduced myself.

"Okay, Lena. What's _your _real name?" I grinned at her.

"I had semi-normal parents. That is my real name." She scowled at me and took a seat on a large rock a little away from the rest of the group, so we wouldn't be overheard. Kelly and Lisa stood up and stared at me, and I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"Wow, total Sue moment. You had a weird name to begin with?" It was my turn to glare at her. She laughed. "Next thing you know, you'll be riding into battle alongside Eowyn and saving Middle Earth." She looked at me suspiciously. "If that happens, I will kill you, and then myself. I'd rather have Sauron running this world than a Sue."

This girl was completely insane. I wasn't following a thing she said, mostly concentrating on trying to figure out what a Sue was. "Sue?" I repeated.

She inspected her nails. "Yeah. Usually a real life teenage girl falling into some movie or book and stealing all the limelight from regular characters by being perfect. It's annoying. I met a really bad one, once. Seriously, it was terrible. She had pink sparkly hair and called herself Rainbow Elf." I winced at the image. "Yeah, I wanted to slit my wrists."

I thought about this for a moment. "But I'm not perfect."

"Can you fight?" I laughed so hard that when I tried to take a step forward I fell and scraped my elbow against the same rock she was sitting on. I moaned and cradled my elbow in my left hand, and then looked up at Luthien. She was smirking at me and my throbbing elbow. "Guess not."

"What else?" I demanded, sitting cross-legged on the ground. She tapped her chin.

"Magical powers?"

"Nada."

"Any relation to one of the main characters?"

"As if something would happen to me to make my life a little easier." Luthien and I sat in silence for a little bit.

"Okay, so far the only indicators you have are that you are pretty, you have a weird name and a bad temper. Now here is the big question-"

I felt two large objects hit the ground on either side of me. I screamed out of confusion, and then screamed again just for the hell of it when I saw Kelly and Lisa.

Kelly threw her arms around my neck and squeezed. "We're saving you!" she wailed. Luthien's upper lip curled slightly and she stared at the hysterical Kelly in confusion.

I gasped for air and pried at Kelly's hands. "Can't…breathe…Kel!" Kelly dropped her arms and grinned.

"Oh! Kidding." I leaned over on my hands and knees and took deep gulps of air.

Lisa pounded on my back. "Walk it off," she commanded.

Luthien started laughing hysterically. "God, the guard from the marketplace wasn't lying when he said you three were completely insane." My friends and I glared at her. At first I pouted, and then I remembered her question.

"Oh, wait! What was the big question?" Luthien looked at me skeptically.

"Forget it. There is no way in hell that your answer would be a yes." Even though I didn't know the question, I was still offended.

"Well, what is it?" I demanded.

Luthien took a deep breathe. "Are any of the canon characters…well…I mean…" her question trailed off into snorts of laughter. I glared at her even harder. "I'm sorry," she gasped, "I'm trying…in love…with you?" she finished, still unable to contain her giggles.

The look I shot her was pure evil. "Hey you stupid whore! Why is that funny?" Luthien managed to hold back her laughter.

"Listen to yourself. I mean, if they could seriously understand the way you talk before, there is no way you would have a chance with any decent guy in Middle Earth."

I was so insulted by her remark that I let Kelly burst out with, "Legolas!" I shot up and looked around.

"Where?" I demanded. I was pretty sure the elf and I had tired of each other for the day. I had been annoying him more the past week than I had in the six months that I had been part of the fellowship. This was because I was bored and it ensured that all of his romantic feelings towards me would completely evaporate.

Lisa sighed and rolled her eyes. "No, stupid. She is saying that Legolas is in love with you." In the distance, I saw him turn to watch our group.

"Damn," I growled, "He heard his name. Okay, our new code name for him is Snuffles."

Kelly glared. "Rip off Harry Potter, much!"

I held up my hand. "Whatevs. Point being, he is not in love with me. Snuffles is having a momentary lapse in judgment and will regain his common sense soon enough." My attention was drawn to Luthien, who had her mouth hanging open and was wordlessly pointing at me.

"Legolas?"

"Um…yes?"

"Prince Legolas? That you have been tagging along after for the past three days?" I stamped my foot and pouted.

"What is this? He annoys me for like six months and nobody says anything to him. I try to entertain myself by bugging him for one day and everybody jumps on my back! I have not been tagging along! I was forced to go on this stupid quest and forced to return to this stupid world! No tagging! At all!"

There was only silence. Kelly and Lisa were looking at me like a crazy person and Luthien's incredulous expression hadn't changed. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at them all. Why did everybody keep looking at me like this?

"Sue!" Luthien snapped at me. I spread my arms out in front of me and stamped my foot again.

"Oh, come on! They are totally lying! The elf is completely crazy! How does that make me a Sue?"

Luthien snorted. "Oh, please. Having a canon character fall in love with you, especially someone as typical as L-" I held up and finger and jerked my head in the direction of the townspeople. She gave me her signature eye roll. "Sorry. As typical as Snuffles, is a huge Sue indicator. You are so screwed if you meet someone else from our world. Seriously, watch your back if anyone else finds out."

I glared at her and then sat back down on the ground. "Stupid Snuffles. He ruins everything!" I whined. She raised her eyebrows.

"Are you really saying that having an elf prince be in love with you is a bad thing?"

I glared at her. "Um, duh! We never annoyed each other like this when we barely knew each other. Then it was the whole always escorting me, giving me puppy dog looks that I never even knew a straight guy was capable of when I wasn't he thought I wasn't looking. And don't even get me stared on how freaking sensitive he is! I swear! I had to watch everything I said or I got yelled at by stupid Aragorn."

More silence. "Wow," Luthien mumbled, "It's that bad?"

I shrugged. "No, not really. I've just been holding in a lot of bad feelings and needed something to bitch about. He is a cool guy, but I refuse to date somebody a few thousand years older than me."

"Awkward," Lisa sang. I nodded seriously

"Tell me about it." Kelly turned to Luthien.

"Okay. So if Lena is a Sue, what does that make you?" At this the girl seemed confused. The crickets chirped and I could hear someone calling my name. My friends and I stared at Luthien until she hesitantly answered us.

"I don't know," she said softly. And then she straightened up indignantly. "But I know that I'm happy here. I've got friends, and I'm engaged, and I'm much more appreciated here than in our old world. So you guys can freak out about this all you want, but I won't help you find a way back or anything."

Lisa ran a hand through her hair and took a few deep, calming breaths. "Now, we have to figure out something. So you're sure we can't understand the language anymore?" Luthien shook her head.

"No. Not now that you know the difference between English and Westron. You'll have to learn it again." We all stared at her expectantly. She snorted and assumed her cocky demeanor from earlier. "Don't look at me like that. You're on your own." I stamped my foot, wondering why she was acting so snobby, and then it dawned on me. Her attitude, the look, her knowledge of "Sues", all suddenly made sense. I think it hit Lisa before it hit me. We both narrowed our eyes at her and stepped closer. Instantly, she backed away from us, panicking, until we had cornered her against the rock.

"You know how to get back there! You know exactly how to get back and you won't tell us. You want us to be trapped in this hell!" Lisa yelled at her.

"I haven't showered in a week! Maybe you're too much of a freak to relate, but I look and feel disgusting!" I also yelled.

By this point, Legolas, Aragorn, and a few guards had heard our screaming and made their way over to us. Legolas put a concerned hand on my shoulder and asked me something in a strange language, what I was assuming was Westron. I could only guess because it didn't have the musical quality of Elvish speech. His sharp blue eyes took in my frenzied appearance and Luthien leaning against the rock looking cool and poised, and he repeated himself. I had no idea what he was saying and settled for blankly staring at him. I shivered and he draped a cloak around my shoulders.

There was a shuffle of feet behind me and a cough that sounded oddly like "Sue." Point being, I snapped.

Now I swear, I didn't intend on attacking Luthien. But the opportunity was there, I was mad, she was making everything worse, and I really wanted to hit something. So without a second thought, I let out an enraged scream and leapt at Luthien. I heard Lisa and Kelly cheering me on, and strong hands roughly pulling me away. Luthien and I had fists locked on each other's hair and squealed pathetically with each tug.

It was a very sad sight, not only because of our Middle Earth clothing, but also because of the sight of us rolling around on the ground, pulling at each other's hair and shrieking. Honestly, it looked ridiculous, as I was told later by Gimli, who found it all very amusing.

Legolas pried my hands off of Luthien's blonde hair and Aragorn had pinned both of Luthien's arms behind her back after she tried to scratch me. "Ha! Your boyfriend can't be around forever!" she yelled triumphantly.

I snarled at her wordlessly, which seemed to intimidate her at least a little bit. If only the people around here found me half as scary as she did. Unfortunately, as I found out when I scanned Legolas' waistline , he didn't have any weapons within my reach, or at least not where I was prepared to go digging around for them. He started lecturing me in the foreign language, his hair flying every which way with each gesture. It got to the point where I was so bored I tuned him out altogether and thought about what he used to keep his hair so smooth and shiny. But just as I felt myself starting to fall asleep standing up, a girlish voice from behind me responded. Kelly was smiling brightly at him. Lisa, Luthien and I looked at her in shock.

She gave us a confused look. "What?"

"……."

"Seriously, what?" I cautiously stoop down and picked up a rock, which I threw at Kelly. It hit her in the head with a loud _thunk_.

She rubbed her head and her eyes started to water. "What was that for?" she demanded. I glared at her.

"You can understand them?" She brightened and nodded eagerly. "Yeah. It's really not as hard as you think it is." I glanced at her quizzically and then walked up to Legolas and Aragorn.

"Apparently, I'm a Mary Sue and I can't speak Westron anymore." They both tilted their heads to the side and stared at me, trying to decipher what I was saying. "You really can't understand me?" They both shrugged and looked at Kelly for an explanation. I pointed at Legolas and Aragorn respectively and said, "You are a pansy and you are a jerk because I still have that bruise you gave me from the table earlier." Kelly opened her mouth to translate, but I shushed on her. I decided I would let that sit with them for a while, because it would drive them insane not knowing what I had said.

"He said he wanted to know if anything you just said had to do with flowers," she told me after Legolas whispered something to her. I looked at him for a minute, and then face-palmed myself. Of course, it figures that of all words that would be the same in English and Westron, pansy would be the one. I shook my head sadly and told Kelly not to explain. "Just let them know what's going on." She nodded and started explaining the whole situation to Aragorn and Legolas.

Legolas narrowed his eyes at me and asked me something. I shrugged and turned to Kelly. "He said 'Pansy doesn't mean flower, does it?'" I grinned and shook my head. Lisa smirked next to me, but quickly put on a mask of confusion when Legolas turned to look her way. Aragorn, probably knowing what was coming, stepped between us both and pointed a finger at me. He growled something quietly at me, and I flinched.

"Did he just threaten me?" I demanded from Kelly. "I think you should let him know that that is illegal in most places." Kelly, who had been staring at the merchant's son while I had been talking, quickly snapped back to attention and translated. Aragorn opened his mouth to retaliate angrily, but was silenced by Lisa.

"Okay for five seconds let's stop acting like two-year-olds and figure out the situation," she shouted at Aragorn and I. We both looked at the ground and shrugged. "Good. Obviously, the fact that we can't understand each other puts a dent in our whole adventure. But we've got Kelly to translate, so that makes things a little easier. What I want to focus on right now is that she," Lisa pointed a finger accusingly at Luthien, "knows how to get back to our world, and won't tell us how." Kelly translated this to the men, who all turned to stare at Luthien.

Aragorn spoke quickly to Luthien , who snapped at him angrily. She was doing a good job of trying to stare him down, and seemed to be pretty focused on it, so I threw a rock at her. It missed. Gimli laughed and sat down on the rock Luthien had gotten up from just as everyone glared at me. I quickly pointed at Gimli, who raised an eyebrow and shrugged. Everybody still continued glaring at me.

"Sorry," I muttered, sitting down next to Gimli. The dwarf continued laughing at me. Legolas and Aragorn started interrogating Luthien, and it got boring not understanding what they were saying, so I started talking to Lisa.

"What do we do now?" I moaned. Gimli patted me on the shoulder and said something in response. I took a wild guess that he was trying to comfort me but I didn't want him to know how badly he was failing, so I gave him a small smile.

Lisa sighed and poked at the ground with a stick she found. "I don't know," she whispered. She looked at me with sad blue eyes. "What if we can't get back this time? After all, it doesn't look like Luthien is giving up any important information."

It was true. Legolas and Aragorn seemed like they were putting all of their efforts into coaxing a solution out of her, but for all the reaction they got out of her, hey could have been talking to a brick wall. She stared over their shoulders, already looking tired of the conversation. Aragorn's eye was doing the twitchy thing that always happens when he is losing his patience and Legolas' lips were pursed into a thin line.

Lisa was still waiting for an answer. "I don't know," I answered honestly. She put her face in her hands, thick red hair falling forward. "I wish Elrond had never sent me on this stupid journey. I could be in Imladris, staying in that nice, cozy castle, with people to talk to and nothing to worry about. That's what they want to do with me, you know." Lisa gave me a startled look. "What?"

I nodded sadly. "If I can't find a way back, I'm being sent back to Elrond (after I have helped destroy the ring, of course). That's another reason I can't be with Legolas. I'm not allowed. I won't ever be allowed to leave Rivendell after the war is over, unless it was to return to our world." Lisa stared at me.

"How do you know that?" she asked. I repeated for her what Aragorn had told me when I had last been in Middle Earth. Kelly wandered over and looked between the two of us.

"What's going on?" she asked. I shook my head.

"It will happen to you guys, too. We won't be allowed to have what Luthien has."

"What's going to happen to us?" she shrieked. I started to tell her, until I realized how she had said it. She had the accent back.

_Crap, _I thought. I grimaced and tried to shush Kelly, but it was too late. Aragorn said something to Luthien and she walked away in a huff, and then he and Legolas came back our way. Aragorn asked Gimli something, but he just looked in our direction and shrugged

"_Mani marte?" _Legolas demanded, looking at me. I practically felt the light bulb go off in my head and I snapped my fingers excitedly.

"Oh! I know this one!" I exclaimed. Aragorn rolled his eyes and Legolas gave me his usual "be serious" face. "Um…I'm fine. How are you?" Kelly translated and he looked like he wanted to face palm himself, then said something to me in Westron.

"He says that you are thinking of a completely different question." I thought even harder and for one second suggested a rousing game of charades, but finally decided that Legolas and Aragorn probably wouldn't appreciate it.

"Okay, well they ran over here after hearing you scream like a fucking banshee, Kelly, so they probably want to know what was going on. Um, tell them everything is fine and I don't care if they don't believe me, because I still won't tell them what happened."

Kelly translated, and before she had even finished, Aragorn looked like he wanted to kill me. I shrank back with a squeak.

"He wants to know why not." I puffed my chest out indignantly. "Tell him that it isn't something he needs to know. You just caught the wrong end of our conversation." Both Kelly and Aragorn looked at me skeptically, but both knew that I wouldn't change my mind. Aragorn continued glaring at me. "Fine. Kelly, tell him that I accidentally let the post war plans slip."

Aragorn and Legolas looked confused at first, until they took in Lisa's enraged scowl. Finally, Aragorn nodded with understanding. He said something to Legolas in Elvish, causing the blonde to wince and look at us all apologetically. I tried to avoid looking him directly in the eye, but it failed. I saw the flicker of pain there, and it made me feel horrible. I wasn't really sure why, considering I had no say whatsoever in this plan, but the guilt was there all the same. I ignored the nudge from Gimli, who had most likely just seen the exchange. Aragorn bowed his head, looking like he wanted nothing more than to crawl under the rock Gimli and I were sitting on and just stay there.

The awkward silence filled the night air, until Kelly made a suggestion. Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli all nodded their agreement, and Kelly told us that she thought it would be best to continue the conversation in the morning. Our group trekked back down to the rest of the group. Eomer and a few guards glanced our way, and the guys went to go meet him. I threw a dirty look in Luthien's direction before settling down with Lisa and Kelly near the men, but still far enough so that their talking wouldn't keep us awake.

I promised myself that until this whole quest was over, I was so calling that girl Betty Anne every chance I got.

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_Mani mart?- _What happened?


	9. last reminder guys!

All right everyone. I'm putting up another reminder. The first chapter of the new story is already up. Which means that both this story and the previous one, "My Life Is So Over," are coming down in a few days. I'm only sending out this other reminder because I noticed a lot of people have been favoriting these two stories in the past couple of days and I'm not sure if they realize it is being taken down or not. But anyways. Whenever you guys have some free time, pop on over to my profile, look under my stories I've published and leave a review. It's called, "Why You Should Be Nice to Role Players." Thanks guys! You are the best!


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